The Silence is Deafening
by Keeper of The Cheerios
Summary: Say hello to the new residence of the Wammy's House, Charlee. To her surprise she makes some friends with everyone's favorite characters. How long can her adventure last? Rated T for just in case. OCx?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer – I do not own Death Note.

" – Spoken

' & _Italize_ – Thought

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Chapter oneeee

'_Maybe it won't be so bad?_' a young girl reassured herself as she stepped out of the beaten up, black car. An old man handed her a black umbrella, she held it casually and took a piece of her blonde with under layer brown hair and tuck it behind her ear. Her hazel eyes were fixed on the huge orphanage she was about to be a part of.

"So this is the famous Wammy's House, eh?" She said aloud

"Ah, yes Charlee, welcome." The old man that handed her the umbrella stated, "I'm Roger, I'm what you call the principle."

She looked up at him, _'Must be in his forties maybe.'_ He had frown lines, like the typical old person does. His hair was balding except for in a few spots. She forced a pleased smile and nodded as another man handed Charlee her bag, waved farewell, then drove off. _'Yeah, enjoy your drugs.'_ She thought to herself as she walked with Roger inside.

Roger led Charlee to his office. The room was massive with book shelves that lead to the ceiling with windows between them. The sound of the rain made a soothing thimp, thimp, thimp sound against the window pane.

"Please, sit down." He said pointing to a chair as he sat down at his desk. He opened a cabinet in his desk and pulled out a manila folder and signed a piece of paper. A happy expression grew on his face as he pulled out another piece of paper and handed it to Charlee.

"Here's your schedule, we're happy to have you here." He shook her hand and spoke again, "Oh yes, Near, Would you please give Charlee a tour?"

"Yes." Said a voice from the floor where a pale boy with white hair was playing with a puzzle. Charlee looked at him with a confused look as he stood.

_'When did this kid get here?'_ She thought to herself as he stood up.

"My name is Near. Let's get going." He brushed at his baggy white shirt and headed towards the door with Charlee not so far behind.

Near showed Charlee the classes on her schedule not taking much excitement from it. "After you're done with your unpacking, please attend your classes immediately."

"Uh, I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but why aren't you in class?" She asked him as he started to show her the library.

"Easy. The classes, they're too easy for me, so I just don't attend." He shrugged

"Wow, you can do that?!" She stated surprised a little

Near just quietly smiled at her little outburst, "It's nothing really."

Without another word Near continued to show her around. It wasn't until he showed Charlee her room that the tour stopped. Charlee walked inside and threw her suitcase on the bed and laughed to herself as it squeaked. She turned to say thanks to her tour guide but he was no longer standing in the doorway.

After she was tired of unpacking she headed towards her class, _'Now, which way was it?' _She looked at the empty hallway and took off in a random direction hoping it was right, _'Well, at least I have an excuse.'_

Several minutes had past and Charlee still was lost. She stood outside of the library thinking back to the tour and where she went from there.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" Called a slouched over raven haired male.

"I was just heading that way, but I'm a little lost." She said with an awkward smile.

"Ah, you must be the new one I heard so much about. I'm L." The raven haired boy said, "Follow me." With that the two of them walked together to class.

When she walked into the classroom, the teacher stopped what she was doing immediately. She had a snooty look as she looked at her then at the clock.

"Glad you could join us." She said quietly then she turned to the half paying attention students, "Class, this is Charlee Ferrow. Charlee, this is the class."

The class mumbled out a greeting as the teacher took out her seating chart. "Let's see, we'll just sit you in that chair next of Matt." She said pointing over to an empty chair next to a really dark red haired kid that obviously wasn't paying attention.

As the teacher continued to rant about some subject, Charlee grew bored and decided to talk to the Matt kid.

She noticed he was playing one of those up to date gameboys, _'Hey, that's a DS." _She stated to herself in her head. She tilted herself closer to him and asked quietly, "Hey, what're you playing?"

He didn't look up at her when he spoke, "Pokemon, Pearl version of course."

She smiled when he mentioned the game Pokemon, as she was a fan too, "I have Diamond version, and we should battle against each other sometime."

Matt laughed at her statement, "Little girl, you have no idea who you're going against. I'll tear you apart."

Charlee grinned, "We'll see about that."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Twoooo

The bell rang a long and monotonous tone. As the class started to file out of the room, Charlee pulled the folded up piece of paper out from her pocket. _'Well then, I'm off the cafeteria.' _She thought to herself as she held the schedule in her hands as she too walked out.

When she reached the loud cafeteria, Charlee stood behind the doors and looked in through the glass. She didn't want to make a fool of herself and just randomly stop in the middle of the cafeteria.

'_Who am I going to sit with?' _ She scanned the tables one by one ruling majority of them out, _'I could sit with Matt, but that might seem stalkerish or something, especially considering the fact that I just challenged him to a pokebattle. Plus, he's sitting with some scary looking kid.'_

She sighed and looked again; just about ready to skip the whole idea of eating dinner all together, when she found a familiar face sitting by himself. _'It's that one kid from earlier! The really too-smart-for-class tour guide!'_ Seeing as Near was her only not-as-awkward option she planted her tray and body at his table.

Near looked up at her without saying anything and went on with his meal. They sat there in silence for what felt like hours. _'Maybe he doesn't recognize me? Maybe he judged me on my first impression and I left a bad one!' _She tore off a small piece of her roll and ate it. She knew it was bad table manners, but it was a habit she picked up at her last school.

Near watched her eat it and broke the silence, "You eat weird."

Charlee gave him a half confused and half embarrassed look. "What makes you say that?"

"Before you put anything in your mouth, you look at it." Near stated as he twisted a strand of his white hair.

"I guess that is weird," She shrugged, "But, everyone does have their bad habits."

With the last sentence, Charlee started to tell Near the story of when she met a parent of one of her friend's. She explained how he would pick up salad pieces in his fingers and waved it around as if it was what everyone should be doing. It was official that the awkward silence was broken after that. Near didn't talk so much other then putting in a couple of words here and there. She was in the middle of starting a new story when the bell rang for the dinner period to end.

As Charlee was talking and walking with Near the crowd swooped her away and she was had no choice but to follow the crowd of kids. It wasn't until someone yelled out, "Hey kid!" that she noticed the hallways thinning out. She looked to see who it was that yelled towards her. To her surprise it was the maroon haired kid from earlier, from the looks of it the scary looking kid that was sitting with him was no where to be found.

Matt grinned as Charlee walked over to them. "Hope you didn't forget our little battle plan?"

"You sure you still want to battle? You know if you're scared you can still back down now." She grinned back at him, if there's one thing Charlee loved, it was trash talk.

Matt grew uncaring and impatient, "Go fetch your DS already; I'll wait for you here." He pulled out his own DS deciding to get his team ready and organized.

When Charlee arrived back, Matt yawned. "Took ya long enough."

Charlee rolled her eyes at his statement as the two of them started to walk off, Matt leading the way.

The room was normal, two beds, a computer, a decent sized television set, complete with loads of gaming systems and games, and a couple of bean bag chairs. Matt pulled up a few bean bags in front of the television an instructed her to sit. She did so and plugged a wire from the TV to his DS and did the same with Charlee's.

"I never knew that was possible." She said as the two of them switched on the power of their game system.

"Let's just say, I have my ways." Matt grinned pulling the orange goggles from around his neck to over his eyes.

The game's theme song and title screen started to play. The game rules was simple, battling in the 'level 100' option, which makes all the Pokemon chosen for battle to automatically be such level, trainers were to choose three Pokemon of their liking. No items. No intense rare ones like Palkia or Mewtwo. Though some of the lesser rare ones like Alakazam or Empoleon are allowed.

Charlee grinned, judging by his obvious character she could tell at least one of the three Matt was going to use. Though maybe not the exact Pokemon, but the element type he must love to man-whore around.

Both entered the game and they instantly pressed the prepared Pokemon they all had set up. The battle music began to play as the anime style trainer sprites slid across the screen.

"Trainer Isabella wants to battle? Isabella?" Matt said with a grin on his face.

"Shush trainer Alexander. Call it my muse." Charlee said sticking her tongue out at him.

"Well, we'll call my name that too then." He responded with a grin.

The trainer sprites threw out the first Pokemon of both teams.

_**Trainer Isabella sent out Pikachu! **_

_**Trainer Alexander sent out Scyther!**_

"Nice choice." Charlee stated choosing her Pikachu's first attack. Matt didn't pay any attention to her. He kept 100 of his focus on the game. _'Gee, a little TOO serious?'_

_**Scyther uses slash! **__The HP of Pikachu drops down 1/4__th__ of the way._

_**Pikachu uses thunder! **__The HP of Scyther drops by 1/2._

_**Scyther uses slash! Critical Hit! **__The HP of Pikachu is now at the half mark._

_'Is he letting me win this one on purpose?' _Charlee thought to herself as she watched the animations of the attack moves. _'I personally just want to see his battling tactics, but by the droned out look on his face, he's using some home styled skills._'

_**Pikachu uses thunderbolt! **__The HP of Scyther drops to the red zone!_

_**Scyther uses slash! **__The HP of Pikachu is now in the yellow zone._

_**Pikachu uses thundershock! **__Scyther fainted!_

Charlee looked over at Matt. His face made no change between now and when he first droned out.

_**Trainer Alexander sent out Swampert! **_

_**Pikachu uses slam! It's not very effective. **__The HP of Swampert is lowered by 1/7._

_**Swampert uses earthquake! **__Pikachu fainted!_

Charlee glances over at Matt, who's now wearing a gigantic grin plastered to his pale face. He was scheming and it was starting to show.

_**Trainer Isabella sent out Torterra!**_

_**Swampert uses hyper beam! **__The HP of Torterra is now in the red zone!_

_**Torterra uses Frenzy Plant! **__The HP of Swampert is now in the red zone!_

_**The two Pokemon must restore energy.**_

_'Here it is! Whatever Pokemon has the quickest speed wins…" _

_**Torterra uses razor leaf! **__Swampert fainted!_

The grin on Matt's face lowered in power a little when he read the word 'Fainted' but came back as soon as he sent out his last one.

_**Trainer Alexander sent out Charizard!**_

_'Fuck. So long Torterra.' _Charlee thought and a small smirk crossed her lips, _'I knew it.'_

_**Charizard uses flamethrower! **__Torterra fainted!_

_**Trainer Isabella sent out Grumpig! **_

_'If one thing is for sure, the Charizard is well trained. This could get messy.'_

_**Charizard uses sunny day! **__Bright light begins to shine._

_**Grumpig uses Psybeam! **__The HP of Charizard is lowered by 1/4__th __Charizard is now confused!_

_'This battle is mine, Matt.' _Charlee thought to herself as she stretched out her arms a little. She looked down at her DS screen. "Chuuuu…." The screen cut to black right then.

"What the hell just fucking happened?!" Charlee exclaimed. "What did you do to my DS?!"

Matt blinked at her, "Like I would do anything to your stupid DS!" he took in a breath, "I would NEVER sink so low just to beat you!"

Unable to think of anything smart to say back to him, Charlee tackled Matt to the floor. She just kept him there unsure if she should strike him or yell at him more. He didn't put up any struggle against her. Or at least until the door slammed open.

"Matt! I heard yelling in the hall-" The boy stopped midword shocked at what was going on.

Matt lightly pushed Charlee off of him and she didn't fight it. "Now Mello, before you lose your head…"

Matt's word's didn't coax him at all. He exploded like a potato in a microwave. "What in the world were you two doing in here?!?" He paused to inhale, "I'm gone for five. FIVE minutes, and you and the new girl are on the floor?!"

With that Mello stormed out the room an slammed the door behind him. Matt sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"What was that all about?" Charlee asked Matt confused.

"He's just temperamental." Matt walked over to the TV and started to unhook everything. "Here's your DS back." He said handing it to her.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Threeeeee

Charlee didn't stick around in Matt and Mello's room after the yelling stopped. She promised Matt a rematch and headed out the door. She flipped open her DS and read a small message across the screen, BATTERIES DEAD; NOW SHUTTING DOWN. After the message disappeared the system's screen turned black.

_'I can't believe it, I forgot to charge my batteries and yet I blamed Matt.'_ She sighed and made it her goal to apologize to him the next time she saw him.

Charlee passed a lit room on the way to her own. Curiously, she looked in quietly and saw the small white haired boy playing with some dominoes. He set them up gently, as if they were made out of glass, one by one. Near tapped a domino and watched as each one fell with a slight tick sound hitting the others. The end result was a full spectrum of blues leading into stunning violets.

"Beautiful." Charlee uttered out forgetting she was supposed to be sneaky. Near jumped a little and turned around to her.

She smiled with a little wave, blushing slightly. "Uhm, hello." She said awkwardly. He turned back towards the design of the fallen dominoes and started to set them up again.

'_Is he angry at me or something?'_ She thought as she walked into the room, "I'm sorry for ditching you like that earlier today."

"It's nothing." He stated in a monotone voice as he continued to set the dominoes upright. There was a silence between the two. "Is that all you need?"

Charlee raised an eyebrow a little hurt at his cold question. "Yeah, I guess it is." Near finished the domino setting and knocked it down again. Charlee turned around and left before the results could be shown.

Charlee knocked her empty suitcase to the floor, not caring if it broke, and crawled in under the covers. She closed her eyes and laid there for what felt like a few minutes then opened them again. _'Damn. I can't sleep.' _She reached onto the night stand and flicked on the small lamp and grabbed her cell phone to check the time. "1:40 A.M." the bright screen stated.

"Screw this." She sat up and replaced her sweatpants with the pair of jeans she wore earlier keeping on the same grunge T-shirt she tried to sleep in. She stepped out of her room leaving her door open a small crack. _'Just so it'll be easier to find.' _

She was curious if Near was still in the play room playing with the dominoes. A slight disappoint ran across her feelings as the playroom's light was off. She flipped on the light switch to reveal all the toys all cleaned up and put away.

It felt unnatural to her. The all over perfect of the room made her angry. She couldn't help but toss toys on the floor. She started building houses for the stuffed animal families. The houses were multi-colored Legos and the animal's heads stuck out from the space that was the door. When all of the stuffed animals had a family and a house, Charlee set up toy army men. Some were marching down the streets while others were standing outside of the houses with their little plastic guns pointed at the adult animals.

She smiled at her accomplishment to make the room less perfect and stared at the little townsfolk for a long time.

Her cell phone blared at her, **"Bam chika, bam chika, whoa whoa whoa, shelang shelang boom!" **She looked around confused. She didn't remember falling asleep, nor did she remember moving to the playroom. She stretched out her arm knocking over a Lego house in the process. **"I fought the war, I fought the war, I fought the war, but the war won."** She sat up and looked at her town being invaded by the army. She ran her hand down the lines of army men, knocking them over. **"Monster hospital, can you please release me?" **

Charlee remembered that her cell phone was still going and quickly shut it off. She started to clean the big mess of junk she left on the floor from the night before until it was returned to its spotless state. She flipped off the light and walked out, closing the door behind her.

The hallways were empty and quiet. The sky outside was still a slight dark blue color. There was defiantly not going to be a stunning sunrise. She flipped on her phone, "5:50 A.M." it read. _'Good, I still have enough time to shower before class.'_

After her shower, Charley sat in the cafeteria by herself slowly drinking a cup of green tea as she waited for the rest of the house to wake up and fill the room.

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A/N: Okay. So the song is "Monster Hospital" by Metric. The domino showing an image when it finished falling idea came from I think, "V for Vendetta". Though, I could be wrong. If I am, ohhh wellz.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: This has very little to do with the story, but have you guys seen Gwen Stefani's new perfume line L? It's the same font and everything as they used for L in Death Note. Think she's a fan? Hahaha.

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Chapter Fourrrrr

Charlee stared at her reflection in her muddied green glass of tea, watching the ripples distort her face when she lightly breathed. The light from the few windows in the room was a yellow-orange color. One of the main entrance doors opened quietly. A small, frail girl walked in watching the floor as she walked in. She made eye contact with Charlee, and Charlee smiled back at her.

The girl took advantage of the kindness and sat down at her table sitting in the chair across from Charlee's. "Charlee right?" She asked. Her voice didn't match her frail body. It was much more cheerful.

"Uh, yes, and you are?" Charlee asked back, feeling a little awkward that the kids here knew her name while she didn't know more then maybe three.

"My name is Annabell." She said with a smile, "Nice to meet you in person."

"I didn't know I was so famous…" Charlee said with a small sarcastic and joking tone in her voice.

"Well, you're new, so word spreads around fast about who you are. It's like, whichever face you don't recognize, that it has to be them." She shrugged her shoulders lightly.

Charlee raised an eyebrow and gave Annabell a skeptic look, "Just how old _are_ you?"

"I'm fourteen of course." She stated it as if it should've been obvious by the way she looks. This was completely off, since she looked like she was twelve.

Charlee giggled a little, "You talk logically, as if you were twenty."

Annabell blushed a little at the statement and changed the subject, "So what're you doing up so early?"

"I just like the quiet." She stated bluntly and looked around the empty tables and empty chairs.

"Oh, me too." Annabell paused. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to ruin your quiet morning."

Charlee laughed and took a drink of her moderate tasting tea. "It's all good. You didn't cause any harm at all. Besides, it's nice to meet new people."

"Yay! We should chill together or something soon." Annabell smiled a huge pearly smile. One you would see a celebrity with in a magazine add and wonder if it was real.

"Most defiantly." Charlee said back returning a not-as-amazing smile. The cafeteria started to fill in with kids. Within minutes the whole cafeteria was nothing but loud voices all talking loud to hear over someone else. Charlee stood up and pushed her chair in. "Please excuse me. I've suddenly gotten a headache."

Annabell nodded and skipped off to some table where her other friends were all seated and waiting to hear the gossip on the new girl.

The bell had ring and the students all filed in for first period. Since it was Charlee's first day in just about all of her classes, she was introduced over and over. It was during fourth period when a couple of girls from just a few seats away whisper a little too loud.

"She seems cool." One said.

The girl behind her laughed with a roll of her eyes, "Are you kidding me? She's fucking crazy!"

The first girl tilted her head back in a surprise, "What makes you say that?"

"Supposedly, last night while everyone was asleep, she went down to the play room, and made a city with army men invading it. It filled the whole room an she fell asleep right next to it!"

The first girl covered her mouth with her hand in a 'gasp!' like manner. "No way!" she exclaimed a little too loud and the teacher turned to her.

"Miss Rayne. Is there something you'd like to say to the class?" The teacher said in her almost scratchy voice.

"No ma'am." She said turning around and lowering her head a little blushing at being put in the spotlight.

Charlee sat there wide eyed. _'How did that girl find out? In fact, how did anyone find out?_' She narrowed her eyes in hate, _'Whoever it was, they're fresh meat.'_

The rest of her day went like that, people whispering as she past with shocked faces and small giggles. She overheard some of the rumors, which the original was defiantly was mangled.

"She painted a picture of roger with a knife through his head!"

"She ran through the hallways naked!"

"She splattered the walls with her own blood!" and a whole variety of obscure rumors.

'_At least nobody knows what really happened.'_ Charlee thought to herself as she went to the cafeteria. The rumor was around for one day, and already was it twisted beyond belief.

She sat down at an empty table and pulled out a notebook and started to sketch into it drawing loopy, squiggly lines. A blonde boy with fringe bangs and hair that curved under his chin walked up to her.

"So I hear you're crazy." He said with a laugh.

Charlee's eyes opened wide, _'Could it have been him? No, it was him.' _She stood up and turned to face the boy. "Mello, you….you bastard!" she yelled grabbing hold of his shirt.

Kids in surrounding tables stopped talking and turned around. "Hey! She's going crazy again!" one kid yelled. Like a pack of rabbits finding a new garden, kids gathered around the two.

"It was you who spread the word, wasn't it? Wasn't it!?" Her cheeks were hot with anger and her fists were ready to strike at any second.

"Why don't we settle this as _calm_ and _reasonable_ people?" A smirk grew all across his face and he shrugged off her angry words.

Charlee couldn't keep inside anymore, everything, all the anger she had built up for who knows how long, came out in one single fist punch to his pale face. Mello spit out a bit of blood and wiped away the little he had running down his lower lip to his chin.

"What's all this ruckus in here?!" exclaimed a loud male voice from behind the two children. The booming voice stopped Mello from retaliating a blow to Charlee. The voice had made Charlee stop in her tracks as well. The room was death quiet as the two turned to see their catcher.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Fiveeeee

Mellow and Charlee stared at the lanky, murky haired man, waiting for a lecture, or some form of punishment. The crowd stood around in silence waiting for more excitement.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" L glanced at Mello's puffed up cheek then to Charlee. "To my office, the two of you, please."

The cafeteria filled with "Ooooohs", whispers, and some giggles as they left. They reluctantly followed the hunched back and filed into the room one by one taking a seat in front of his cherry wood desk. The office was a lot like Roger's. Same style windows and book shelves, the only difference really being the candy wrappers and empty soda cans all over the desk.

The two teenagers didn't have to explain a word. L understood the situation without their explanation or excuses. He picked up a pen by his thumb and index finger and tapped it on the desk lightly.

"Now, for your punishments." He looked at the two with a pause and spoke in a monotonous tone, "Charlee, seeing as you're the one who did the physical damage, I'm sentencing you confinement to your room."

She couldn't believe her ears, it was _him_ who bullied _her_ and he gets off scotch free?! Charlee knew her place and didn't speak a word of disagreement; she slightly nodded to show she understood. After her punishment was given, she left the room, leaving Mello and L in the room by themselves, closing the door a little bit too hard behind her.

'_Oops.'_ Charlee thought to herself as the bang of the door echoed down the empty hallway. _'Well, I might as well make good use of my free time.' _She pulled out her cell phone and changed the alarm to ten in the morning. _'I'll finally be able to catch up on my sleep.'_

She didn't even bother showing up for the rest of her classes. She decided to play some Harvest Moon to pass the time, snacking on her secret stash of candy she kept in her jewelry box. It was long before she passed out asleep.

Knock, Knock. She ignored it and turned over in her covers. The person at the door persisted. Knock, Knock. After the third set of knocks she sat up and glanced at her cell phone clock. _'It's 7:10, grrreeat.' _She thought to herself as she opened the door, inhaling a giant yawn.

"Good morning student. I hope you're ready for today's lessons." L stood in the doorway with a sinister grin on his face. Charlee looked at him then the books in his hands. "You didn't think I'd let you have the whole day to yourself, did you?"

She blinked, "Yeah, actually I did." She opened the door and allowed L in. _'Thank goodness I fell asleep in the clothes I wore yesterday.'_

Charlee sat down on her bed and L pulled up a chair that belonged to the desk. "I haven't had to do this in quite some time. So bear with me." L said as he opened the first book.

The first subject was algebra. The easy stuff in Charlee's opinion, since all it was memorizing equations. L was very awkward at the beginning of the lesson but caught on quick himself. He pretended not to know answers so he could make Charlee figure it out.

Around noon, L shut the biology book mid sentence. "I think it's time for lunch." He said as he stood up. "I'll bring you back something."

A few seconds after he shut the door, Charlee threw her pillow across the room, _'That bastard. He's playing me for a fool.'_ She stood to retrieve the pillow from it's slumped over position in a corner of the room. _'After all, what idiot doesn't know the formula for volume?'_

Another knock was at the door, only it was more of a hurried knock. She tossed the pillow back on the bed. "It's open." She said in response.

"I thought he would never leave." A maroon haired boy said standing by the door

"Matt?" She said confused, "What are you doing here?"

"Well. I came to apologize." He let out an almost annoyed sigh

"Why? You didn't do anything." Charlee said as she sat back down on her bed, she was more or less worried about getting caught with this boy in her room on the day of her confinement.

"Oh, I meant for Mello. He just-"

She cut him off, "Tell him, that if he wants to apologize, then to do it himself."

Matt rolled his eyes, "Ha, like that would ever happen."

There was an awkward silence for a bit, "You know, I think you'd better leave before L get's back."

He grinned, "I don't know, maybe I _want_ to be caught." He said in a joking tone.

"Well, I don't silly boy, I'll talk to you later. Now go." She snapped he fingers and pointed in the way of the door. He just laughed at her and left with a shrug.

It wasn't long until L came back with two lunch trays. "Sorry it took so long, I couldn't decide what I wanted."

She looked at his tray; the main course was a slice of cherry pie topped off with a big glob of whipped cream. She glanced at her tray; the main course of hers was a simple plate of murky soup with a few vegetables floating in it. _'I hope your teeth rot out.' _She thought to herself with a grin on her face.

"Anyway, where did we leave off? Ah yes. Biology." He opened back up the book and continued his lesson as if there was no break at all, taking in bites of his pie between sentences.

The sun was setting outside and L shut the world history book, "That's every class you missed today." He said stacking the books. "If you'd like, you can eat dinner with the rest of the children. Then tomorrow, you will return to your normal class schedule."

"Yes sir." She said as she watched him leave and close the door behind him. She plopped down on her bed only to sit back up. _'I need to stretch my legs.' _She thought as she stood and walked out her door.

The halls were golden, with a few groups of kids walking past here and there. Her stomach made the choice to go eat dinner with everyone else or not for her with a loud grumble.

Almost halfway there she was stopped. "Hey Charlee!" A young sounding female voice called after her. She turned on her heel to see Annabell's cheery smile as she ran over to her. "So why weren't you in class today? There was a lot of whispering and other junk without you there."

"We have a class together?" Charlee asked a little guilty.

"Yep, two to be exact. Biology and algebra." She pointed out with a big smile on her face.

"Wow. Maybe I'll have to come and sit by you or something." Charlee said smiling back.

"Yes, defiantly." She paused. "You know, you never did answer my question."

"Nothing get's past you does it? Anyway, I was put into room confinement." She shrugged and her stomach growled again and she laughed it off. "Let's walk and talk our way to the cafeteria. I'm starving."

Annabell giggled and agreed, "Room confinement? What was that like?"

"It's a pain in the ass." She stated with a nod.

"So, that's the punishment for punching someone then. Imagine that."

Charlee laughed, "So you were there?"

"Oh no, I was in the library when it happened, unfortunately. The girls in history told me all about it." Annabell thought for a moment, "Though, is it true about who you hit?"

"That depends." She smiled, "On who the rumor said I hit."

"Oh, of course. They said it was Mello _and_ that you walked off without a single scratch!"

"Well, for probably the first time ever, the rumor was right." She paused, "Not so much the last part. Seeing as L stopped the fight before Mello could strike back."

Annabell was still impressed. If this was a cartoon of some sort, she would have small stars drawn into her blue eyes and a pink background filled with flowers.

They reached the cafeteria and grabbed some food. "Hey, come and sit at my table!" Annabell instructed happily as she grabbed Charlee's wrist and walked over to a small group of kids sitting at a small table.

Annabell pointed to each of the kids. "Charlee this is Russell, Sandy, and Lilly." she then turned to the group with a big smile, "Guys, this is Charlee."

"Hello!" They all said at once in a half happy tone.

She smiled and returned the half happy hello and sat down. They started talking again for awhile pretending Charlee wasn't there as they finished their previous conversation.

"You know Charlee, only a handful of kids have ever actually hit Mello." Russell stated.

'_Again with the stupid fight?' _she thought to herself as she waited for him to finish his statement.

Instead Sandy spoke up, "I wonder what he'll do for revenge." She giggled at the possibilities flipping her long dirty blonde hair behind her boney shoulder. Russell started to laugh with her as if the thoughts were transmuted through their brain.

Charlee rolled her eyes as she took a bite of her Stromboli. She could already tell that out of the three she was just introduced to, she liked Lilly the best. Since after all, she hadn't said a word.

"So _anyway_…" Annabell said sounding a bit uncomfortable. "Lilly, how was your day?"

Charlee smiled at her ability to change the subject smoothly yet obviously as the pixie haired girl spoke in a small voice. "It was alright. Nothing important happened."

"Bah. That's the problem with this place." Annabell stated stretching her arms foreword. "Nothing exciting happens."

"Well, you know. If you want some excitement bad enough, sometimes you have to be the one to create it." Charlee stated as she took a sip of her tea. "After all, if everybody was to just wait for it to happen, then nothing exciting would ever happen."

The brunet sighed, "I suppose you're right. Maybe I will start a ruckus."

"Now you're getting the idea." Charlee smirked back.

After she finished eating, Charlee decided to leave the four of them to chat with themselves, using the whole, 'I need to catch up on my school work' excuse. Of course she had no plan on returning to her room. Her legs were still itching for a good walk or a nice run. The last one sounded most appealing to her and she wondered if this place had a track or something.

She glanced out the window, _'Might as well forget it. It'd be dark by the time I got there.' _The sky was a light purple with some lighter blue streaks of clouds. _'Meh, I'll just explore the inside.'_ So she did. The further she traveled the less people there were around, although, that could be due to the fact that it was also getting late.

After several turns and dead ends, she came across a giant, beautiful white door. It looked as if it was never touched by grimy human hands. Charlee turned the brass door knob and noticed a well lit path of swirling stairs. She climbed up them until a sudden breeze sent tingling chills down her spine. She had reached the top. She looked around the belfry, even at the giant bell itself. It was the first time she had ever seen one of these in person. She only knew what it was thanks to a certain Disney movie.

She walked over to the edge, "The view up here is amazing!" she exclaimed out loud, a little disappointed that it didn't echo back. She kneeled in front of the small wall, and laid her arms on it as she watched the flickering lights of the surrounding cities, as if they were small, distant fireflies.

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A/N: Okiedokie, so yeah I put this off until the holiday was over. Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate. Uhm, I was gonna put something else here, but I forgot. OH YEAH! Thank you Treehugger4ever for the as you call it, "Pushy" review, it got me in the 'zone'. Haha.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Sixxxxx

"Open up." Demanded a gruffy voice from outside a wooden door, Charlee found herself in beaten up, one room house. She was huddled in a corner with two familiar dirty, worried faces. _'Could it be, Mother and father?' _She dared not speak for fear of the man outside the door.

It had been like that for weeks; the government hounding down houses, people pretending not to be around, sirens, and setting fires. It was true madness, almost the same madness in Germany when Hitler was in control. Every family dared not to step outside and jumped at every sound behind planked over windows.

The gruffy man pounded on the door again, he was determined to get in. Charlee closed her eyes waiting for the man to come barging in. She felt her mother wrap her arm around her, giving her a comforting squeeze. Her body shook with fear; in fact the whole three of them were shaking.

There was a long silence. The family waited a good ten minutes before breathing out a sigh of relief. Charlee stayed seated as her father stood with his boney knees quietly shaking as he held out a hand to help her mother up.

_**BAM! **_The poorly hinged door smashed open to reveal a light the family had not seen in months and three silhouettes standing defiantly, as if they felt like workers of some twisted God.

The men rushed in wearing what appeared to be a gasmask and pointed some sort of gun at the three of them. "Take the child." Said one that sounded like the same gruffy voice from earlier.

Her mother started to yell at the man, "You can't fuckin' do this! She's still a child!" she stood to fight off the men herself but one quickly held her arms behind her back causing her to sob. The second man did the same to her father, incase he tried to do anything. The third grabbed Charlee around the neck and pointed his gun to her back as he forced the ten year old out the door.

The two men, who were holding her parents back, walked out not that long after they did and ripped a few pages out of books and lit them on fire setting it to the broken down house. Charlee watched the building collapse out of the corner of her eyes as she was forced to walk and huddle into the back of a giant van filled with the same dirty faced children.

The van came to stop at some deserted grounds. Army men lined with rifle guns beside them as one commanded the children to get out one by one in a straight line. The light blinded them all for a split second, after which exposed an army base. The base had sands for miles, one or two trees, and a total of four buildings.

It was four years of learning how to handle a gun, how to eat food like sand, how to infiltrate enemy buildings, and how to burn just about any building down. Any crossing of the children caused them to be shot at. Several kids shot at one by one for even the slightest thing. Flashes of their faces crossed Charlee's vision, each of which represented their faces of when each was shot in front of everyone. The faces disappeared in bright fireworks when she touched them, and she suddenly whirled into a different scene.

It was her fourteenth birthday when they came. She was commanded to stay watch in the tower. She purposefully did a bad job of it when she saw a large group of army men in different colored uniforms then of her own. They sent wave after wave of men, some children shot a few out of fear or their new twisted view of liberty. In the end, the intruders were victorious after smashing a few skulls. It was then that every child was officially free.

_**DOOONNGGGGGG! **_The ground felt like it was shaking. Charlee awoke and chills ran down her back and goose bumps raced up her arms. She turned around quickly and her head felt like it was filled with an air balloon.

"Gadzooks girl, I didn't see ya there." Said an old man with a white moustache and balding hair, he wore a blue jumpsuit. He had to be one of the janitors.

She sniffled and realized how teary her eyes were. She decided if asked about it, she'd blame it on the cold. "Yeah sorry, am I not supposed to be here?" she coughed at the end of her sentence after hearing it get groggy.

"Well, no yer not, but I do enjoy the company." He said with a smile.

Charlee loved his smile; it was a smile of a man who was still young at heart and still felt like he had a lot left to do for life. "I'll be sure to come and visit then." She said smiling back with another sniffle. "What time is it?" she asked looking back out at the view of the sun that had just risen over the horizon.

"It's mornin' time. Ya should go git ready for class. 'Bout fifteen minutes until it starts." The old man said.

Her eyes widened, _'Shit, I'm going to be latteeee.' _She thought and spoke out loud instead, "Thank you sir. I'll be leaving now." She waved and left back down the stairway and just about ran to her room, crashing into an assortment of kids. She opened her bedroom door and sniffled. _'Fuck this, I'm sick.' _She crashed down on her warm bed and it sent tingles though her body as she dozed off.

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A/N: **So Chelsey-puff said I could use the word Gadzooks if I put her in bold, that and she would let me keep the story to 1k in words. **Yeahyeah. So basically a dream chapter, it's… eh.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Sevennnnn

Charlee woke a good hour after falling asleep in her cozy bed coughing up a storm. Each cough made her chest ache and leaving her gasping for air between each one. Once her 'coughing fit' was over, she pulled her brown and blonde hair back into a sloppy half ponytail, creating a side bang and letting it fall on the side of her face. She sniffled and rummaged through her dresser. Locating a slim metallic case, she opened and slipped on her glasses.

Charlee glanced at herself in the mirror, _'Ew, I look horrible.'_ The rims were too big and thick for her thin face, it made her feel like one of those dorks you would see stereotyped in cartoons.

She pulled a paper back book titled, '_Running with Scissors'_ by Augusten Burroughs and laid back down on her bed. She picked it up for the fact it had a kid with a cardboard box on his head for a cover. The book itself gave no summery to what it was about, but covered in good reviews. She figured it was worth a shot.

Charlee reached to the chapter five and was half way through the second page when a barely audible knock was on her door.

"Come in." Her voice was hoarse and it cracked she took off her ugly glasses as the door opened.

A white haired boy walked in and stood at the door, "You're not in your classes."

"Well, that's obvious." She said with another sniffle. "I'm sick."

Near raised an eyebrow, "You were supposed to go to the nurse's office so that one can notify the teachers."

She stared at him, "Why am I just now hearing about this?" He voice wore out and she felt like she was yelling to make herself audible.

Near just shrugged at her, "Do you need some assistance getting to the nurse?"

"Naw, I passed it the other day. You probably have important things to do." She pushed the covers off of her and stood stretching her arms above her head.

He made a tch sound, "Yeah, it's _really_ exciting to run errands."

She laughed at his sarcasm and walked over to the door, "Well, if you really, _reeeeally_ want to come, then I guess you can."

With that they walked down the quiet hallways in an awkward silence, they rounded a corner when Near, for once, broke the silence, "By the way, you have a package in the front office."

She smiled, "Really? I can't wait to open it then." She said coughing after it was said.

"Lucky for you, we're here." He pointed towards a doubled door made out of shiny metal.

"Well then, thank you, Near, for the company." She smiled again and walked through the doubled doors.

Inside were two separate doors, with a reception desk between them. The lady smiled sweetly at Charlee, her hair was a crop off hairdo, which just about every old lady gets, and dyed an ugly red. "What do you need?"

"I'm sick." Charlee put bluntly

"Alrighty, what's your name, sweetheart?" Charlee hated it when people referred to her as sweetheart, especially old ladies.

"Charlee Ferrow." She said as the lady wrote her name and time down in a very sloppy handwriting.

"The examination rooms are right through there." She pointed to the door to the left. "You'll be in room 234."

Charlee walked through the wooden door, inside it was a long hallway full of other wooden doors. She opened the door to her assigned room, 234. Another old lady was inside, only this one had poorly taken care of black curls and black rimmed glasses.

"Hello Charlee, please take a seat." She pointed to the medical chairs they use in a normal doctors office. She looked at her clipboard as Charlee sat down. "So what seems to be the problem?"

"I have a cold." She stated with a sniffle.

"I see." She said. She pulled out a stethoscope and put it to Charlee's back, "Breathe in." she paused as Charlee took a breath, "Breathe out."

"It seems you have a small case bronchitis, not a cold this time." The lady stood, "I'll be right back with your medicine."

Charlee looked around at the small room as she waited, there were two calendars, one that had kittens on it, and the other had puppies. Other then the calendars, the room was very bland. It was quite a few minutes until the lady returned with a bottle of pills and an inhaler.

"Take one pill twice a day, same with the inhaler." She said as she placed the two into two separate, small boxes handed the two over to her.

"Yes, thank you." Charlee said as she walked out the room. She stuffed the boxes into her jacket pockets and started to walk back to her room.

"Excuse me, miss." The receptionist said as Charlee tried to slip past, "We'd like to keep patients in the ward."

"Oh, I'm perfectly fine. Plus, I'd be able to sleep better in my room." She flashed a giant innocent smile to the receptionist. The receptionist didn't put up a fight and allowed Charlee to just walk out.

Charlee sat in her bathroom, staring at the white pills. _'These are fucking huge.'_ She thought to herself as she poured one into her hand. She let it sit in a glass of water to make it smaller and quickly took a puff of her inhaler as she waited.

She stirred the glass with a spoon and reluctantly started to gulp down the cloudy water. The taste made her gag when she finally finished the glass and the pill was down. She stared back at the bottle. _'There's no way I'm doing this everyday.'_ She walked over to the toilet and flushed down the rest of the orange bottle.

She threw out the bottle in the garbage can on her way out and stuck the inhaler back in it's proper box. _'Inhalers, I can handle.'_ She thought as she walked back to her bed.

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A/N: Guess what! I gotz fanart! 3 :D Lookie: http://treehugs. deviantart. com [Remove spaces Oh and also, the book 'Running With Scissors' is currently the book I'm reading. :


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Sorry about the whole uploading chapter 7 more then once. I blame fanfiction's glitchyness. Fanfiction, you need to get your head in the game. Also, don't expect any updates through this upcoming week. I have exams. I have to review. I am scared like crazy to fail. So I gotta focusss. Thank you for understanding.

Chapter Eightttttt

Charlee sprang from her bed, _'The package!'_ she quickly ran a brush through her now bed head hair and set out the door. The hallways had more kids in it then before; due to the fact it was roughly noon and roughly lunch time.

Her stomach grumbled when she realized the time. _'Maybe it'll be cookies, or a giant cake. Yeah, a cake would be nice.' _She watched her feet as she walked; she wanted to get there as quickly as possible and not to be distracted.

Luck was on her side today as she made it down the halls without a single person to stop her in the halls. The office was made out of glass in the front and the back was made of normal walls.

She noticed a familiar red headed kid standing behind the long desk. "What're you doing here?" Charlee asked Matt as she walked up to the counter. Her voice was still raspy, only now it was understandable to what she was saying.

He smirked, "I got into a bit of trouble earlier. My punishment was 'community' service."

"Community service? Gee, they sure do some weird punishments around here." She said with a roll of her eyes and a sniffle.

He laughed, "Oh well, I guess it could be worse." He paused, "Well anyway, what're you here for?"

"Near told me I had a package and to pick it up here." She watched as he looked at a clipboard.

"Ah yes. I'll go fetch it." He walked out to the back then came back a few minutes later with a medium sized cardboard box and placed it on the counter.

Charlee couldn't help the giant smile on her face. "I wonder what it is." She read the address written on a piece of paper taped several times to the box. _'From my old foster parents, weird.' _

"Well, are you just going to stare at it or open it?" he said in a joking tone.

"Fine, fine." She took the box off the counter and placed it on the floor with another sniffle. She felt like it was Christmas. She attempted to open it and struggled with the box tape. "Do you have something I can open this with?"

"Oh here ya go." Matt handed Charlee a navy blue pocket knife out of his pocket.

She laughed holding it in her hand, "A pocket knife? Strangely, you don't seem the type."

"Haha, well, you're right there. This kid tried to use it in a fight; I had to pry it from his fingers. I was meaning to get rid of it soon." He replied to her comment with a slight shrug.

"That's…Interesting." She stated raising an eyebrow. She flipped out the blade and started to cut at the packaging tape with a small cough.

"You're pretty decent at that." He said watching her actions

She laughed quietly, "Years of practice." She opened the box and pulled out a vibrant yellow sun dress. She stared at the dress confused, it looked oddly familiar. She placed the dress on her lap and noticed a purple envelope. It was written on upside down with her name in a sloppy cursive script. She ripped the accused top and pulled out the letter itself.

The letter was poorly folded into threes and the paper had many small ink blots and scratched out letter. Instead of a normal letter that would say something about how life was going or something, the only sentence on the paper was; _These came for you in the mail._

_'How heartfelt.'_ Charlee thought as she tossed it on the floor and put the yellow dress back in the box. She picked it up with a slight sniffle, "Well, I'll see you later." He waved back in a bye notion and she left the room.

Charlee carried the box back to her room; the hallways were very easy to get through, since they were empty due to everyone being in class. She dropped the box on the bed and smiled a little as the bed squeaked and the box bounced. She leaned her back against the foot of the bed and sat on the floor using the bed post as a support.

Her body was exhausted and she couldn't help from breathing heavy. Each breath stung in her chest and she could feel another coughing fit build up in her throat. She held her breath for a few seconds, her heart slowed down and the soon-to-be-coughing-fit disappeared.  
She stood back up and reopened the box. She tossed the letter itself in the wire trash bin and resisted the urge to catch it on fire. Charlee started to go through her new collection of dresses. There was a total of three in the box. One had a halter strap with a blue and white plaid with small lines of red with a matching black belt. Another was a long baby doll dress with a red floral design against the off-white fabric. The Last dress was her favorite one of all, it was strapless and the design was a 70s look with an assortment of grapes, oranges, and peaches that had a look as if they were painted in watercolor on the dress itself. It had black trimming around the top and the bottom.

She sighed as she put the box by the door, _'Too bad it's now too cold to wear these.'_ That much was true, the now fall season was a rainy and cold one. _'Well, maybe I'll just wear this one tomorrow. As long as I don't go outside, I should be fine.'_ She thought to herself as she held up the 70s dress with a small smile on her face.

Charlee caught a smell of the dress, and crinkled up her nose. The smell was of cocaine and whiskey. _'No surprise there. I was only adopted to help pay for their fucking drugs in the first place.' _She threw the dresses in a basket and walked out looking for the laundry room she noticed the other day.


	9. Chapter 9

amilA/N: WHOO Chapter 9! Finally, I am done with exams. I think I passed all of them too. :D Yayayayayay! Anyway, enough of that, let's get to the story.

Chapter Nineeeee

There was a monotonous tone from the machines and the small clicking sounds Charlee's shoes made against the shiny red and yellow tiles on the floor. She caught a blonde boy in the corner of he eye and held her breath thinking it'd make him not see her. She straightened her back and quietly walked over to the second closest machine on the opposite side of Mello's.

The dresses were in the spotless steel and glass washing machine when Charlee's hard cough gave her away.

Mello turned his head around to her, "Goddamn, spread your disease, why don't chya?"

Charlee rolled her eyes, refused to face him, and just ignored his snippy comment. There were a few other kids in the room as well, mostly listening to their music players and reading some teenage magazines.

Mello, expecting a witty comment back, was not satisfied by her reaction. He walked up a step or two behind her and taunted back, "Whatchu washing, Granny panties?!"

Charlee's hand made a loud SMACK sound against his fair skinned cheek and yelled at the boy, "What's it to you?! Does it turn you _on_ or something?!"

Mello instantly smirked a mocking grin as the cheek instantly grew red; he got the response he wanted.

The few kids looked up from whatever they were doing and stared at the two, sending a slight shiver of awkward down Charlee's back. She felt her posture slump a little and her back against the cold, metal washing machine as Mello had pinned her against the machine holding her chin towards him.

He spoke quietly and maliciously, "You sure do have a lot of guts, don't ya?" He paused, his eyes were almost that of a maniacs and she tried to squirm away, "You're as strong as a mouse." He laughed and let her go. Mello quickly picked up his basket of clothes and left with the amused expression still on his face.

The machine made a low buzzing sound and Charlee threw the dresses into the dryer slamming the circular, steel door. She jumped at the clang sound and shut it again more gently. The kids walking by gave her a raised-eyebrow-confused look as they walked in and out.

'_I keep making a fool of myself.'_ She thought to herself as she sat down on a low wooden bench. _'I've been here for how long, and I've made such a ridiculous name for myself.' _She calculated up the days in her head. '_Four days including today.'_ She coughed at the small number as if the thought was in her throat. She slowed down her breathing to prevent any possibility of coughing fits. The last thing she needed was another way to attract more attention to herself.

The dryer made a slightly higher pitched sound then the washing machine and Charlee quickly folded them in her basket and left. She glanced at a grandfather clock, one she never noticed before, as she headed back for her room. It was late noon and her stomach growled again. She figured it was worth a shot to see if they would serve her.

She was surprised to see the cafeteria full with kids. As she looked around, she didn't see a single familiar face. She felt even more awkward after she nabbed some food from the line and walked over to an empty table. It felt like a first day of a new school all over again.

She took a small bite from her grilled cheese lost in a daze of thought when a hand planted itself firmly on her left shoulder. Charlee nearly leapt out of her skin as she turned around to face who it was.

A man with a warm smile planted on his face stood right behind her and appeared to be the only culprit. He was one of those dark-tan-and-handsome guys, with smooth skin, perfect teeth, perfect hair, and pretty much perfect everything else. Perfect being, of course, what the magazines made it these days.

He resisted a laugh as he realized she jumped at his actions, "What are you doing over here, sitting all by yourself?" he asked

Charlee stared at him as she suddenly forgot how to speak, let alone open her mouth to talk. He quickly asked another question, to prevent an awkward silence. "So, are you new here?"

She blinked and managed to stutter out, "Y-yes, well, no, er s-sorta." She felt her face slightly blush. _'smoooth.' _She thought to herself as she lightly bit her bottom lip.

He lightly laughed at her reaction, "I'm Samson." He stated finally and sat down next to her. "What's your name?"

"Charlee." She broke eye contact with him as she said her name, afraid of his reaction.

"Really?" Samson stated, "I think it suits you very well."

"Thank you." She said as she tried to carefully take a sip of her can of soda.

"Anyway, you never really answered my first question, why are you sitting _all_ the way over here, _all_ by yourself?"

"Oh, yes, well." She tried to find the right words, "I didn't exactly know anybody in here."

"Let me guess, you're assigned to the lunch period before this?" He asked with an amused look on his face. She nodded and he continued, "Well, no wonder then. This is the lunch for the 'older' kids."

She raised an eyebrow confused, "Older kids?"

"Yeah, how old are you; Fourteen, fifteen?" He asked.

She felt the butterflies flutter in her stomach and her age flashed as a mental image in her head, "Fourteen."

"So young, I expected you to be at least fifteen." He paused and continued, "This lunch is for the kids roughly sixteen to seventeen."

Charlee placed her elbow on the table and balanced her head on her hand, "So then, how old are you?" she asked as she tried to keep the butterflies at bay.

He grinned his pearly whites at her, "Seventeen." He said proudly and yet coolly.

"Wow, you're an oldie." She said smiling back at him as he laughed. _'Damnit, he's too old to be interested.'_ She thought to herself. She wasn't really looking for a relationship, but she figured one with this boy would be nice.

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A/N: OOOOoooOOoooOOOooOOOooOooOOo! Another boy! What will happen?! Tune in next time to find out! ;D Also, expect a short story soon from me. It'll be in the Death Note category and I think you'll like it. Hopefully anyway. Uhhh. Once again, sorry for the long wait. I've been kinda…distracted.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Okay, so I got some messages complaining about my growing amount of OCs. GUYS! They are at an orphanage! The main characters aren't the only people there! So get over it. Goddamn. And yes, my last OC Samson does seem like a "Mary-Sue" but that's the way Charlee sees him, you kids should understand if you've ever seen a really cute boy walking past, it's like that thought of, "Damn! That boy was fiiinneee!" only in a longer lasting form; so I hope you people understand.

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Chapter Tennnn

Maybe it was his pretty face that clouded her impression of the boy, the lunch period ended and Samson asked Charlee to 'Hang out' with him and a couple of his friends really late at night. Not late as in, 'Oh, nine o'clock maybe ten at latest' but as in, 'Sneak out of your room at midnight.'

She wasn't even skeptical of the strange timing of such a get together, well, at least not until a girl with a flashy smile and a stylish, sloppy ponytail of brown hair called out her name,

"So, I see you made an _older_ friend." Annabell stated after Samson left the small group. She looked antsy as if she wanted to say something, but couldn't find the right words.

"Yep, I did." Was all Charlee said, her butterflies started to slow down.

Annabell bit her lip and let out a sigh, "I might as well say it," she started, "That boy isn't really….safe."

That made a confused expression cross Charlee's face; _'What the hell is that supposed to mean?' _She thought to herself and reworded the question in person to not step on any toes. "What do you mean by, 'not safe'?"

"Well Charlee, he's one of those 'drug heads' or 'stoners' or whatever people are calling them these days."

Charlee shifted uncomfortably, "I understand." She said to the small girl and walked with Annabell back to the girl's hall. _'Impossible, could it be another one of those rumors? Has to be, she looks like the type that likes gossip. Rumor. Definitely a rumor.' _ She thought as she entered her room and set her alarm clock for eleven fifty. _'Just to make sure I have time to get ready.'_

Eleven fifty rolled around and Charlee quietly threw on an old band T-shirt and a pair of grey jeans and ran a brush quickly through her hair and waltzed out the door still half asleep. The room was easier to find then expected, it was closer to the end of the hallway that her room was in and was marked with a little piece of paper with a scribbly dinosaur, just like Samson had said it was.

Charlee lightly knocked on the door and sure enough, Samson himself answered flashing a smile she couldn't help but smiling back at.

"Welcome!" He said, "You're right on time."

He opened the door so she could get in and closed it behind him. There was a total of four other people in the small room. A multi-toned blonde with stylish side bangs and not a piece of hair out of place, a really skinny brunette with long wavy hair, a boy with shaggy black hair who was almost as scrawny as the brunette, and the last guy was a red head with messy long hair.

The room smelled of strawberries and kiwi, and the Brunette invited Charlee to sit next to her as the multi-toned blonde started talking, "Okay, everyone's here, let's kick it up a notch." She flipped on a boom box playing some loud techno music. The blonde jumped and quickly turned down the volume. When she regained her calm she clapped her hands above her head and laughed at herself.

The red head was talking to the shagged haired boy and lit up a cigarette and blew out giant puffs of smoke when the shagged hair boy turned to Samson, "You do have them right?"

A smirk grew on Samson's face, "Of course I do."

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" The brunette said with excitement.

Samson pulled out a small bag with a few colorful pills that almost looked like candy inside of it. He dumped some out into his palm and handed them out. He went to Charlee last and she looked at the pill in his hand. It was white and had a small engraving of a dove.

Charlee blinked and her expression became uncertain. Samson noticed and looked her in the eyes, "Don't worry," he said, "I won't let anything happen to you."

Maybe it was his beautiful features, maybe it was the sound of assurance in his voice, or maybe it was because something inside of her that always wanted to do something silly like this. Whatever the reason was, Charlee took the white pill and popped it in her mouth and Samson did the same.

Next thing she knew, Charlee was talking to Samson in a widespread conversation and a smile was planted onto her face. It felt like every wall and every ounce of self-conscience in her body had been drained. _'I feel amazing.'_ she thought to herself. She felt as if even her sickness of bronchitis had been diagnosed. She planted a big hug on Samson, he smelled like sweet cigarettes.

From out of nowhere the music became louder and more beautiful to her ears, she smiled at him and grabbed his wrist to the floor and the two started to dance and the other kids joined in as well.

After a few minutes, she felt light headed she sneaked out of the small dancing group and grabbed a bottle of water and leaned against the wall. Her jaw clenched which made it hard at first but it loosened after a few minutes. Charlee watched the five kids dance, it looked as if it was a painting put into motion she couldn't take her eyes off of them for what felt like forever.

It wasn't until a chill ran down her spine that Charlee broke her stare at the teenagers dancing without a care. Her leg flinched and she followed the urge to move around as she walked out the door with the bottle of water half full in her hand.

The hallways were quiet and it was still dark when she stumbled out of the room. Charlee had no idea where her legs were taking her. _'I feel like I'm in a twisted mystery novel.' _Her vision was now blurry and she hard a hard time to keep focus, though she felt at complete ease. _Tap, tap, tap, tap_. A small silhouette came into her vision from what looked like a great distance away, without a second thought she followed the silhouette with increasing curiosity about who it was.

The silhouette led her around and around and she could've sworn that at points the black shape would wait for her to catch up and start off again. The sun was starting to present itself slowly outside a clock started a little song that marked it was the top of the hour.

Then, it stopped. Charlee squinted her still blurry vision and couldn't make out who it was and readily kept walking to the shadow man. When she was just inches away from him she could only make hour his maroon hair and his comparison of tallness between her and the boy, though he could see her clearly. "Matt?" She asked quietly.

"Yes." He responded back

"What're you still doing up?"

"I was just-" He placed his hands on her shoulders, "Are you okay?"

She nodded

"Your eyes, they are the size of disks."

She sighed kept the eye contact, "I made a mistake." She wrapped her arms around his waist giving him a loose hug.

"C'mon, I'll walk you back to your room."

The two walked back together, with her arms still wrapped around his waist and not a word spoken between them until they reached her room. He opened the door and picked her up onto her bed. She was half asleep during the whole process.

"Matt?" She said when Matt turned off the lamp that was by her bedside, she wasn't sure if he'd left yet even though it happened a few seconds before.

"Yeah?" He said in reply, she felt him sit on the side of the bed.

"Thank you." She said sitting up. Charlee wrapped her arms around his neck and lightly pulled his face towards her and gently pressed her lips against his. Matt was surprised but quickly recovered and returned the kiss back slipping his tongue against hers. The feeling overwhelmed Charlee and she gently pushed the boy down to the bed she tugged at his shirt a little as he ran his hands up and down her back. She pressed her lips against his even more deepening the kiss.

He took his hands off of her and broke the kiss. "I can't." He said then he added when he noticed her confused and hurt expression across her face, "You're drugged. It wouldn't be right to take full advantage of it."

Charlee sat back up and nodded in agreement. He kissed her forehead and got up to leave. "Thanks." She paused, "Again, Matt."

Matt smiled, and Charlee could've sworn she saw it in the dark or felt the presence of it in the room. When she heard the wooden door close gently behind the boy she dozed right off to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Elevennnnn

Golden rays brushed their warmth across Charlee's sleeping face. Her eyes slowly blinked open and she covered her face with the blanket then turned to face the other direction. The thoughts of last night's events caught up with her as they reeled by her mind as if she was in the audience of her own movie premiere.

A disgusted expression drew across her face, _'I shouldn't have trusted Samson, I knew I shouldn't have… But, I did…' _A wave of despair washed over her body and lingered at the tips. She felt a slight something for the boy and it took over, his pretty looks, his charming personality; all of it put her common sense on pause and she couldn't handle it. She wondered how much of the boy was real, how much the boy really wanted Charlee as a friend, or as anyone else. She sighed and pushed the thought from her head.

As if to replace the last thought, the next one meshed itself in her head, the vivid scene she had with Matt. She tightened the blanket in her hands. _'I'm so…Ashamed. There was no reason to act like that.'_ she thought to herself, she didn't even know if she had such feelings for the gamer boy. She let out a haggard breath, _'It could've gone way worse.'_ Which was entirely true. Her body wouldn't have stopped, her mind wouldn't realize what she was doing, if it had been any other boy and any other night, she wouldn't have woken up still a virgin.

Her mind went silent for a bit and she drew shapes on the mattress with her fingers until another thought popped in, _'I wonder how he'll change around me.' _She beat herself up for the thought, but didn't disagree with it. It was an awkward situation, a confusing one, about who's feelings for what and the purpose of those feelings. She didn't want him to act different; she didn't want the boy to change himself around her for a mistake she would block out of her memory soon enough, a memory that she wouldn't gossip about or tell to kids who asked about it for a long time.

"No!" Her voice startled herself raspy and weak, a sign of morning, "I won't let that happen." She paused, _'I can't let that happen.' _Her eyes blurred and her face felt red. Before she knew it her shoulders were trembling with the sobs as she let the salt water hit the pale pillows.

She had herself recollected and blankly day dreaming about nothing, when a soft knock made her stir. She flattened out her hair with her hands and rushed to the door. A familiar dark-tan-and-handsome male greeted her with a warm smile. His posture was composed and thought out, almost as if he planned every part of the conversation, every last word.

"I came to check up on you," He paused and looked Charlee right in the eyes, "I was worried."

Charlee's voice was still left at the bed, still underneath the safe of the covers. She wasn't prepared for a boy to be at the door, she wasn't prepared to deal with anything or anybody.

Samson shifted in his position and frowned when there was no reaction on Charlee's face. They both stood awkwardly in the doorway, and Samson shifted his eyes to the floor, "So… I was wondering if you'd like to come with me to a party…"

He looked her in the eyes with an endearing look. She blinked and her voice rushed out of the bed and found its place back down her throat. "Thanks, but I've had enough partying for a good while."

"Oh." He said looking back down at his feet; he smiled and looked back up again, "Hey, if you change your mind, you know where to find me."

She nodded and an awkward silence broke out between the two. He shifted in his composed posture. Charlee stood there waiting for him to leave, as if it was obvious the conversation was over.

"Well, I have some school work to catch up on-" Charlee said after awhile, she realized how much she used school work as an excuse and it made her feel as if she was transparent.

"I'll see you around then." Samson took the hint, and turned around and left. Still composed.

Charlee closed the door as he turned his back, as if not to give him the chance to come back. She laid on top of her blankets instead of dealing with the effort to get underneath them as she was before.

Her mind wondered a little more when the quiet set into the room. She wondered how much Samson really missed her, how long it took him to notice that she wasn't there, or if one of the other girls had to tell him. She smashed her fist on the bed and it bounced up with a thud. Why did it bug her so much? Why did she care? _'I swear from this moment on, I'll have nothing to do with the kid.' _She shook her head, _'That might be a little too extreme._' But she didn't care, because in her mind, she _shouldn't_ care.

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A/N: A short chapter yes. Sorry that this took so long. My power went out yesterday, and then today our internet went down. Excuses I know. But here it is. Oh golly gee wilickers. I'm on chapter 12 now. It feels like such an accomplishment. Maybe not so much to my friend Chelsey who has like thirty chapters, but to me, it's a lot. This is my second story that has ever had this many chapters. My first was an 'insert you' Yu Yu Hakusho story from back in the day. Too bad fanfiction took it off, I liked the plot. Anyway. I'm just babbling.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelveeeeee

Hazel eyes glanced at a clock that read two forty in red, digital numbers. She raised a brow and wondered why anyone let her sleep in for so long. Not even the usual lackey of Roger didn't come and complain that she didn't sign out sick. _'Oh well, if it's not a problem, then no sense in worrying about it.'_ She figured about it.

Charlee sat up in the bed and leaned her back against the post. She looked around at the room; it looked the same as the day before, except for a pile of books on a chair in the corner of the room.

She rolled off the bed with an _oof _sound when she was on her feet. _'Now how did you get over here?'_ Charlee recognized the books as her school books that were just all over the place the day before. She opened the top book that had the words Algebra written in big, bold red letters on a background of a bridge. Inside she found a little note, with her name on it, written in a scratchy handwriting.

_Charlee,_

_I hope you're feeling better, here's the school work you've been missing. Now you don't have any excuses for failing. There's a lot of junk, but stay strong!_

_-Matt_

Charlee smiled and made a quiet giggle sound. _'How did he get this in here?' _She asked herself then came to the conclusion, _'I've got to start locking my door.'_ A chill ran down her spine as the thought of the type of person who could get in came into idea.

Inside each book was a piece of paper with the lessons, chapters, homework and any other details needed written on it. She had a lot to do. Charlee stacked the books back up on the chair, _'I'll do those later.'_ She figured to herself as she stretched out her arms and yawned._ 'Maybe I will go to class.'_

She scrunched her nose as Charlee realized that she would be stuck in health class. _'Better than gym,'_ she figured as she put on a new change of clothes and took a puff of her inhaler. _'Besides, it'll make the day go by faster.'_

Charlee reached the health room only to find a piece of paper taped to the door. **"Class will be held in the gym-itorium."** It read in a very neat handwriting and accompanied by a smiley face at the bottom. The gym-itorium was what the teaches called the old gym ever since they tried to turn it into an auditorium but only stuck a lot of bleachers in there and made the auditorium from scratch. She wasn't quite sure where the gym-itorium was so she followed some kid she remembered being in her class from a distance.

When she reached the gym-itorium she was surprised to see how many kids were already there. Half of the blue and grey bleachers were taken on both sides. There were roughly three to four health and gym classes being held in the same class period. Her eyes looked around for her class as she followed the crowd swooping her further into the big, loud room.

She kept glancing around the room when she noticed a maroon haired kid in a striped shirt waving at her. It took her brain a second to figure out who it was. Charlee waved back and smiled once her brain registered that the boy was Matt.

"Charlee!" Yelled a voice from the bleachers, "Hey, Charlee!" Charlee looked up to see the culprit of yelling out her name to see Annabell waving from a few bleachers up with a smile drawn across her face. Charlee took it as an invite and stalked up the bleachers and sat down next to her.

"What are you doing here?" asked Annabell, her voice was loud but it had to be to be heard in the echoing room. "Aren't you still sick?"

Charlee grinned, "A little bit, I decided for a change of scenery."

Annabell laughed and Charlee asked, "So, what are we doing in here?"

"We're watching one of those 'educational' films." She wrinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue. Charlee couldn't help but let out a little giggle. "My hypothesis is that it's either about drugs or a sex movie."

"Ewww." Charlee stated as a teacher came on a microphone. "Quiet please." He said, he had to repeat himself roughly three times to get the room quiet. He was defiantly one of those push over teachers.

The teacher continued with a speech about how great the video is and how much the students should learn from it and other garbage that no one ever really cares about. It took three teachers and fifteen minutes for them to set up the old fashioned film. At one point the film even rolled away and the push over teacher had to chase after it, everyone laughed at the old awkward man.

The lights turned off and the film started to roll with that annoying slight clicking sound accompanying it. The words, **'Abstinence and You'** rolled across the screen, every kid in the gym-itorium groaned. Charlee let out an annoyed sigh, _'I shouldn't have come after all.' _

The movie was a long hour in length, it felt like ten to every student stuck in the room. It droned on about STDs, condoms, and two hormonal characters, one named Sue and the other Frank. It was cheesy and informed students about what they already knew or could find in the text books. The movie itself dodged the whole area as to actually how to 'do it,' that it even ended on the note of, "Let's wait for marriage, Frank." "Good idea Sue!" It made Charlee sick to her stomach.

"That was… interesting." Annabell said rolling her eyes. The gym-itorium quickly picked up its volume of kids talking over each other. The teacher started to dismiss the classes, though it failed when a ton of kids decided to leave anyway, so the rest followed.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteennnnnnn

"Are you coming back to class?" Annabell asked after she stood up. Charlee twisted her face up in a strange disgusted face. Annabell couldn't help but laugh. "I'll take that as a no." Some kids from the bottom of the bleachers was calling for Annabell she turned to wave for them and turned back to Charlee, "Wanna join in on some poker tonight?" Her face twisted into a giant grin.

Charlee grinned back, "That sounds fun. I'll be there."

"Yay!" Annabell wrapped her arms around Charlee's neck which made her fidget slightly. "See if you can find any boys to invite. It's not always as fun with only girls." Annabell gave Charlee the time and room number then skipped off the bleachers and into the ocean of kids.

Charlee sat in the bleachers by herself and watched as everyone drained out of the gym. The teachers pretended she wasn't there and were talking to each other as one was trying to put away the projector. Their voices echoed in the room each questionable.

Charlee's focus wasn't on the teachers though; she noticed a small white figure standing behind them in the corner. She squinted her eyes and realized the white figure was Near twisting his hair between his fingers. He looked up noticing she was staring at him. Charlee attempted to smoothly look away, but wasn't sure if it worked._ 'Eh, why not?'_ she figured and quietly stepped off of the bleachers.

"Hi." Charlee said to him as she leaned against the wall next to him.

"Hello." He said back in a monotonous tone not without even glancing at her.

A wave of silence came between the two. "So," Charlee said after awhile, "What're you up to?"

"Nothing." He responded. his eyes were fixed on the teachers talking and laughing with each other. "Feeling any better?"

"A little bit." Charlee followed his notion and fixed her gaze on the teachers too.

"You look better." He sounded like he was uncomfortable saying it.

"Thanks." Charlee smiled and bit on her lower lip a little while she pondered how much make-up she was wearing. After all, she felt like a train wreck.

Another awkward silence.

"Hey Near," Charlee started to say, she turned to face the white haired boy and he faced her, "Want to play a game of cards tonight with some kids?" She swallowed hard as he didn't answer right away so she quickly spurted out something, feeling incredibly awkward. "I won't really know anyone there except one or two, so it'd be nice to have someone to talk to."

"Yes, sounds nice." He said in a rather stating tone. Charlee took this as a definite answer of that he'll be there and gave him the room and time. When all of the teachers filed out of the gym-itorium, with Near following behind, she began to wonder if it was right to invite Near. _'I have no idea what their relationship with each other is.'_ She sighed, _'Then again, she __**did**__ say to invite some boys, and Near __**is**__ a boy.'_

Charlee decided that if she saw Annabell between then and the time for poker, she'd ask if it was alright to invite Near. _'That way she can't get mad at me.'_

Charlee didn't go to the rest of her classes, but instead tried to find Annabell in the hallways when it would be time for the students to regularly switch classes. She would either just miss her or miss the short five minutes of transporting all together. Secretly she blamed a book titled "The Book Thief" and its interesting words about World War II and a little girl in Germany.

Before she knew it, it was time for the poker party and her plan to find Annabell in the hallways was an epic fail. She tapped her fist lightly against the wooden door and Annabell opened the door all smiles. She was dressed in gym shorts and a T-shirt covered in stars which she made look cute instead of slutty.

Inside three other girls were snapping cans of soda open while laughing at some gossip or jokes, Charlee wasn't quite sure. They followed the suit of comfy clothes, wearing tank tops and comfy shorts or pajama pants. She recognized a small pixie haired girl named Lilly she met that one day at lunch. Annabell introduced the girls, one had what people sometimes called a 'scene' kid haircut, a dark red with colored hair extensions, her name was Katy, Charlee knew it was spelt weird since she had it written on her knuckles in sharpie. The other girl was sorta preppy looking; she had the stereotypical Jennifer Aniston hair that just about every girl in high school wore. Her name was Victoria, or 'Tory.'

"So did you end up inviting anybody?" Annabell asked as Charlee sat in the half circle of girls and accepted a can of orange soda from the one named Katy.

"Yeah," she said biting her lip a little as she snapped open the can with a loud pop, "I invited Near."

Annabell's smile grew from ear to ear and everyone's glance shifted over to Lilly, whose face was getting pinker by the second. Charlee knew instantly what that meant. The cute, shy pixie girl had a cute crush on the smart, quiet boy. Her brain racked about what in the world they would be able to talk about, since she could barely handle getting a sentence out of the boy herself. Charlee's thought process was thrown off when a rhythmic knock greeted their ears.

Annabell gracefully stood and skipped over to the door in full out excitement, her grin she grew for Lilly's embarrassment was still full across her face, it was almost as if it was stuck there. Charlee tried to keep her face an even smile as she noticed who was at the door.

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A/N: I'm so sorry for the long wait, please forgive me! This past week has been tough and I had other social priorities to deal with first. Things are better, and I hope they stay that way. Anyway, I'm already working on my next chapter. So the update won't take so long. D


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteennnnn

"Fashionably late I see, come right in." Annabell stated as she held the door open and Mello walked in with the company of a maroon haired boy side by side with Near trailing in behind him. Charlee resisted an eye roll. It wasn't the fact that she didn't like them; she just didn't want to deal with the attitude of the angrier one of the three.

"Is everybody here yettt?" cried Tory impatiently as the boys sat opposite of the girls in the circle and Lilly preoccupied herself by shuffling the deck.

Annabell closed the door and skipped back to the kids in the circle sitting between Katy and Tory. "Yep, this is everyone." She examined the circle, "This isn't going to work."

Everyone looked at her puzzled. "What in the world are you talking about?" asked Mello

She waved a finger in the air, "You guys could cheat off of each other." Annabell made a thoughtful face. "Charlee, sit between Mello and Matt, Lilly, between Near and Mello." She waited for everyone to move, "Much better." Annabell was caught between Tory and Katy, seeing as the boy and girl ratio was short two boys.

"The game is poker," Lilly stated handing out five cards and paused before she spoke again, "Everyone _does_ know how to play, right?"

Everyone looked at each other and nodded.

"Good. What're we betting?" She asked.

Annabell lifted up a bag of assorted candy, "Since we are everything but rich." She passed the bag around and everyone took out a handful.

Charlee threw in a Snickers, Mello a gobstopper, Matt a Reese's, Katy a ball of bubblegum, Tory a Babe Ruth, Annabell a Hershey's bar, and Near inserted a sucker.

Tory opened the bet and threw in a gobstopper with a smile.

"I see your gobstopper and raise it with a bag of M & Ms." Said Annabell

"Oh really?" Stated Matt, "I see the bag of M & Ms and raise you a Life Saver."

"Wait a goddamn minute." Mello said, "How we supposed to know what's greater than what?"

"That's the fun part." Said Charlee with a grin.

"Fold." Stated Near facing his cards down and Katy followed the suit. Lilly and Tory discarded three cards and withdrew three. Mello reopened the bet and threw in an Almond Joy.

When everyone flipped their cards over, except for Near of course, everyone groaned as Lilly won the pile with a straight flush.

"For a quiet girl, you sure do play cards well." Annabell said to the girl as she opened another can of soda. "She once wiped me clean at a game of Old Maid."

They played few more games following the same suit, each of them winning a game here and there.

After the third game Near stood up, "I'm out. I'll see you guys around." He was out the door before anyone could stop him.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Matt spoke up with a grin, "Sooo, how about a game of strip poker?"

Everyone laughed at his statement, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I might have nightmares if I see Mello naked." Said Katy.

"Well, same goes for you, Katy." Stated Mello, "Only, I might have to pierce my eyes out with a Twix bar."

Katy threw a pack of Mentos at Mello and laughed as it hit him in the head. Mello burrowed his eyebrows and threw a Reese's at Katy, only to miss and hit Tory.

"Hey!" Tory said as she picked up the Reese's and threw it back. Mello deflected it and, in return, hit Matt. Before they knew it, candy was scattered around the whole room and everyone was out of breath from laughing at both their stupidity and lack of aim. Once they started to calm down, the seven of them started to play again.

"I see your gummy worms and raise you-" Annabell looked down at her pile of goods, and realized she no longer had a pile of goods to bet. Her face grew into a big smile as an idea popped into her head, "I raise you Charlee."

"What?! You can't bet people!" stated Mello.

"Yeah, I agree." Stated Charlee with wide eyes, "Please don't bet me."

Tory smirked, "Anything goes, Charlee, you're being bet."

"Hope your hand is high." Joked Mello to Charlee.

"Yeah, yeah, let's get this over with." Charlee rolled her eyes with a sigh.

Nobody else raised or saw the bet and everyone flipped their remaining cards over. Charlee bit her lip afraid of the outcome.

Annabell giggled, "At least you're worth a Royal Flush." She pointed to Matt's cards.

"So now what?" Matt asked the group.

"She's yours for the night." Katy said trying to stifle a laugh. Charlee couldn't help but blush a little; for once she understood what it must be like to be one of those hookers you can pick up on the city streets.

They played until two in the morning, and Matt still 'owned' Charlee for the night when Tory called it quits and Annabell kicked the rest of them out. Katy and Lilly dragged Mello away with them using the excuse that they were scared of walking to their rooms alone as Matt and Charlee walked in the opposite direction.

"Soooo," Charlee said glancing her eyes from his to the floor.

Matt smiled and responded back with the same tone, "Sooo," He paused for a few seconds, "How about we just walk around for awhile?"

Charlee nodded and smiled, "Sounds good to me."

He smiled back and they continued to walk together in the silence and dark of the building.

-------------------------------

A/N: I'm a terrible person xP. I was going to update this sooner and stuff, but I kept forgetting to look up on how to actually play poker. So yes, don't try to play poker by what I wrote, I have no idea if my source was even right. xD Yeah, you can't research stuff when you're on the school bus with no wireless internet. I'm so sorry! Don't hate meeee!


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteennnnn

'_Do I take his hand?'_ thought Charlee. She shifted her eyes up to Matt; there was a brick wall of silence between them. _'Or maybe bump my hand into his?' _She lowered her eyes to the floor, _'I wish this was easier.'_

They turned a corner and Matt placed his arm around Charlee's shoulder. She blinked in confusion as he pulled her with him next to a small table.

"Shhh," He placed a finger on Charlee's lips and pulled her closer to his body. A beam of light flashed down the hallway making the shadows dance like sick ballerinas.

Charlee leaned her head against Matt's chest. The scent of soda and bitter cologne danced at her nostrils, calming the butterflies in her stomach. The footsteps of the person holding the flashlight grew louder as they came closer, Charlee shut her eyes and tried to replace the sound with that of Matt's heartbeat.

"Charlee." Whispered the male voice, "Charlee, C'mon, the coast is clear."

Charlee lifted her head up to Matt; she didn't know how long they had been sitting there together, or how long she had nodded off. She felt groggy and comfortable. "Five more minutes, mom." She said as she laid her head back down on his chest. She was cracking a smile at her own joke.

Matt laughed and played along, "No, no, you'll miss the bus."

"Soooo? You can drive me to school."

"But then your cereal will get soggy."

Charlee couldn't help but giggle. She sat up reluctantly and let out a small yawn. Matt leaned in and whispered in her ear, "I have an idea." His soothing voice sent a crashing wave of chills down her spine. "You still owe me a rematch."

Charlee raised an eyebrow and turned to him. _'What in the world is he talking about?' _

He stifled a laugh at her expression. "Remember, I think it was the first day we met." He paused, "We battled each other-"

"A Pokemon rematch!" Charlee said a little loud cutting him off.

"Yes, exactly," Matt stated with a smile written across his face.

"Well then, I accept your challenge." Charlee said returning her voice to a whisper. They both stood and his warm hand wrapped itself lightly around her wrist then he started to lead her through the dark halls. She wanted to so badly just pull her arm and fit her hand into his. A few minutes passed and she was just about to grab his hand when he let go altogether.

"This is your room right?" He asked.

Charlee looked at the door and ran her hand across the cold numbers drilled into the door. She wasn't sure what number her room exactly was, other than it was next to a table with a cactus in a neon white pot on it. She turned her head and sure enough, the cactus and vibrant pot was there. "Yes, this is it. I'll go grab my DS really quick." She paused and opened the door, "You can come in if you'd like, instead of standing out here alone in the dark."

She could sense his face grow into a smile and flicked on the light. Charlee rubbed her eyes when the sting of adjusting to the light shot through her pupils. She quickly grabbed her DS off the charger and double checked to make sure the Pokemon game was inside. "Alright, let's go." She said with a smile towards Matt standing in the doorway. The florescent yellow glow from the light danced at the edges of his maroon hair. His pale skin radiated from the dim glow. He looked like a professional photograph hanging in a museum, so beautiful the picture itself would have a whole wall dedicated to him.

She shook the imagery from her head, realizing that she might have been staring at him. Matt gestured for her to leave first and closed the door lightly behind them. The two of them walked down the dark hallway side by side. Charlee's feet side stumbled and caused her to lightly bump Matt's hand. Matt took it as a hint and gently entangled his hand into hers. The warmth of his hand sent a soothing tingle up her arm, but once it reached her brain it sent a small wave of awkward and fear.

When they reached Matt's room, he flicked on the light and both expected Mello to bolt out of his bed with a ball of fury. "Hm," started Matt with a shrug, "I guess he's not back yet."

The room looked the same, but felt different. Charlee couldn't put her finger on what was irking her about the room. The same beanbag chairs sat in front of the television, the same two beds laid out in the open. She decided not to let her bug her too much and sat down on one of the beanbags. Matt set up their DSs the same way as before, plugged into the television.

The same two names, Isabella and Alexander, and the same two anime style sprites flashed across the screen. The music was hushed for fear of waking anyone else up at such a crazy hour. Charlee looked over at Matt; he wore his orange goggles over his eyes.

_**Trainer Isabella sent out Raichu!**_

_**Trainer Alexander sent out Grumpig!**_

"I see you evolved your Pikachu." Matt said. Hearing him talk caught her off guard. From what she remembered, Matt was the type to get absorbed whenever he played a game.

"Yeah, I see you caught a Grumpig. Good choice." She smiled and felt a small layer of tension break away.

_**Raichu used thunder! **__Raichu's attack missed!_

_**Grumpig used Zen headbutt! **__The HP of Raichu is lowered by 1/2_

Charlee's eyes grew big; her old Grumpig was never that strong.

_**Raichu used thunder! **__The HP of Grumpig is lowered by 1/5_

_**Grumpig used Power Gem! **__Raichu fainted._

Charlee let out a sigh and sent out her next Pokemon.

_**Trainer Isabella sent out Typhosion!**_

_**Grumpig used Zen Headbutt! **__The HP of Typhosion is lowered by 1/5_

Charlee felt her head get heavy, along with her eyelids. She shifted in her position to help keep her eyes open.

_**Typhosion used Fire Blast!**__ Grumpig Fainted!_

_**Trainer Alexander sent out Empoleon!**_

Charlee felt someone nudging at her arm, "Hey, Charlee?" asked the male voice.

"Mmmrffrmm." Was all Charlee replied with. A few moments later she felt her body being lifted and carried. The scent of soda and bitter cologne danced once again playfully at her nostrils. The scent wafted away and replaced with a warm blanket and a soft cushion underneath her.

Small broken lines of sunlight poured out the window. The window shade hid half the light. Charlee's eyes flashed open. _'Where am I?'_ she thought to herself, her heart thumping around in her ribcage with panic. She quietly sat up in the bed and recognized a maroon haired boy sleeping in a beanbag chair. The wheels in her head ticked together and started working up the memory of how she got there. A smile worked its way across her lips and she quietly stepped out of the bed.

Charlee searched the computer desk and found a piece of paper, a black Sharpie, and some Scotch tape. She quickly scribbled the Sharpie on the paper and taped the note to Matt's forehead.

She quietly giggled as she walked out the room to her own.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteennnnnn

Charlee ran a hand gently through her bed head hair. Everything felt dream like to her, she was half expecting for her alarm clock to shock her awake at any moment. She walked back to her room, her happiness practically radiating off of her. It was Saturday and she felt the glances from the other kids in the hallway. She was like a candle in the dark.

She fell asleep instantly on her soft pillow and comfy bed. It was well into the night when she woke up. Half the moon was shining and the whole building was silent as the dead. _'Crap.'_ She thought to herself, _'Now I'm fully awake.'_ Charlee reached out a hand to turn on her lamp; her skin was white as a ghost and threw her off guard for a few seconds. When her eyes adjusted to the light she searched her bedside table for the book she was reading. She was disappointed when she realized that her bookmark was on the inside of the back cover, meaning that she was finished with it.

She crawled out of her bed, put on a change of clothes suitable for public, and with the book in her hand headed for the library closing the door behind gently as possible.

The library had two rooms, one for the books set aside just for the younger kids with books such as Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein, and another for the older kids like "The Bell Jar" and "Lolita." The lights were a dreary yellow; it made her feel slightly more tired when she stepped in the room. Charlee placed the book on the desk, taking note on the lack of a librarian behind the desk.

She walked into a random isle of the giant book shelves to try her luck at finding another good book. She stared at the titles until a couple popped out at her. On her sixth try at picking out titles and covers, she settled on the book titled, "The Torn Skirt" by Rebecca Godfrey. The cover wasn't the most appropriate, a teenage girl with a bruised knee and the skirt of the dress pulled up high above her knees.

Charlee started to head toward the counter, she hated to read in the library, or in public for that matter. She was rereading the back of the book when a crash to the shoulder made her do almost a complete circle.

"Watch it." said the other person in a cold voice

"Why don't you?" Charlee demanded back.

Mello's eyes furrowed, he wasn't going to take her sass, "What was that?"

"I believe you heard me."

"So the mouse thinks she's a lion now, eh?" He grew a mocking grin.

"Yeah and the lion part of me won't take any of your bullshit." She returned the mocking grin. "It's okay to be scared, Betty."

He stood right in front of her his head towering over hers. He chuckled at her insult "Oh don't worry Frank, I was just wondering if you need a license to be that ugly?"

"When you look in a mirror, do you cast a reflection?" Charlee wasn't about to let him win the war.

Do you still love nature, despite what it did to you?" Mello shot back

"I bet your brain feels as good as new, seeing that you've never used it."

"If you had half a brain, you'd be lonely."

"Why don't you slip into something more comfortable like a coma?"

There was a pause before Mello said anything, "I hate you."

Charlee smirked, "I hate you too."

Mello placed his hands on Charlee's shoulder, her heart skipped a beat and she could feel it pounding like a man trapped in a glass box. He lifted a pale hand and stroked her warm cheek gently. Her self conscious told her to pull away while the rest of her told her to move in closer. He held her face in his palms and tilted his head closer to hers. She still had time to escape and deny him, but she couldn't bring herself to. He pressed his lips softly against hers rubbing his tongue across her lips. Charlee clutched at his shirt forcing her tongue into his mouth. He ran a cold hand to her hair, sending chills down Charlee's back. Mello lifted her onto a nearby library table, her arms wrapped around his neck and his hands were both on her waist and on the table.

"Ahhem." The sound threw the two off guard and they quickly separated. An old lady with faded brown hair in a bun smiled at the two as she walked by.

The two sat there in silence both deep in thought on what to say to the other. Charlee was still sitting on the table and ran a hand through her hair, a nervous habit.

"Hey-" Mello started to say, but Charlee cut him off.

"Sorry, but I must go." She slid off the table and left the room without a single glance back at the hurt blonde haired boy.

A/N: So I forgot in my last chapter to inform you guys that I can no longer update on weekdays due to too much stress and lack of time I've unfortunately unburied. Damn you school! Daaammmnnn youuu! Thank you lots Chelsey for helping me so much with this chapter. :


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeennnnnn

A/N: What the hell? Why was all the stuff in my last chapter bolded? Man, it's really annoying to keep looking at. After I upload this, I'm removing the chapter and fixing the bold problem. This is something we call, "Last-Minute-Trying-To-Keep-In-Deadline" update. Ooooppppsieees.

Chapter Seventeennnnnn

_'Fuck.'_ Charlee thought to herself. She rounded a corner and fell to a huddled position against the wall. Her vision blurred. Her heartbeat was as fast as a race horse on crack. Her hands, her feet, her face became tingly numb. Joints locked into place. Chills running down her nervous spine; breathing heavy, rocking back and forth.

_'Calm down,'_ she coaxed herself, _'Everything will be fine.'_

She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. A wave of warmth washed over her and her body began to function again. Her legs were still numb when she attempted to stand causing her to stumble. She pressed her hand against the wall, something cold and metallic pressed harshly against her palm.

The halls were still dark; her eyes were adjusted, but played tricks. The feeling of the walls closing in were strong, before she knew it she was running towards the front door. A wave of cold night air brushed against her skin as the door closed behind her.

_'Where do you plan to go?' _Her mind asked her, _'You have nowhere to go.'_

Her steps slowed down to footsteps. _'Running away will only make everything worse.'_

"Okay." She confronted herself. She reached the property's fence. It was thin and black. Her mind snapped out of its foolish state when her hand brushed its flesh against it. She sat on the ground and picked up a stick and started to poke the ground with it. Her hand stung, she noticed her hand covered in a deep maroon color. Her palm was bleeding. She clenched her hand into a fist and chose to ignore it.

She shook her head and tried to get her head on track. After all, that was the whole reason she was out there, or that was what she convinced herself. _'Hormones,'_ she bit her lip. _'Fucking hormones, I let them get the best of me.' _

Good enough excuse for her she moved on to the next set of issues in her head. _'How do I fix this?' _She ran her hand into her hair. Anxieties. _'Can't fix what you don't know the answer to.'_

_'What the hell is that supposed to mean?' _The answer hit her five seconds after, _'Do I really have to choose?'_ She leaned her head up at the sky. _'Can't someone decide for me?'_

A small breeze swirled itself over her and she closed her eyes. _'I could play both.'_ She rolled her eyes at herself. _'Even if I was to sink so low, they would probably tell each other. After all, that's what best friends are for, right?'_

Her thoughts continued on track without an answer to her question. _'How is it that I managed to do __**that**__ to a kid that has hated me since I first arrived?' _

_'Is that his way of showing affection?' _Her eyebrows narrowed, _'Such a childish way to react.' _

_'Like you're the one to talk,'_ something in the back of her head spoke. _'You were going to run off. __**You're **__**such an **__**adult**_

Charlee wanted to break her skull against the ground. She remembered a word of advice she once received from half decent friend in her last public school. "Choose who you see yourself with more." She spoke the words out loud in a whisper.

She thought about for maybe a minute and a half. _'Bad advice. I can't picture myself with neither. Then again,' _She reasoned,_ 'I could never picture myself with anyone.'_

She stood and brushed the dirt and such off her clothes, _'Fuck it, I'll wait to see what happens.' _A new prophecy was made in her brain, _'When you can't solve it, wait for it to figure it's own damn self out.'_

She walked back towards the door she came out from. Her teeth were clattering against each other slightly; her arms crossed along her chest. The cold was much stronger to her now that she had a calmer mind.

She stepped up the concrete steps and tugged on the iron door handle. It clicked and didn't move more then a couple centimeters. "Damnit." She cursed aloud, _'It's locked.' _

She had two choices, sit and hope that someone was going to open the door at such a late hour, or walk around the entire place looking for an unlocked door. If it was any other building, she would've chosen the second option. To her, the building was huge and she didn't even know if there was another door to get in and out. She figured there were several, but figuring isn't really knowing. Plus, the place seemed like it would have tough security to get into. She was dealing with doors that locked the outside out and the inside not one bit. Charlee was never one for lock picking, so her only option was to stay put and come up with a story as to why she was sitting on the front porch of an orphanage that she was already a part of.

An hour passed, the night sky was slightly lighter, though Charlee couldn't tell. She was huddled. Her legs were pressed tightly against her chest, her teeth clattering against each other as if they were bouncy balls. Her teeth were clattering so loud she didn't hear the door open behind her.

"Charlee? What the hell are you doing out here?!" His voice made her jump nearly out of her skin. She turned to face the savior who opened the door for her. Samson stood in the doorway, a pack of cigarettes in his hand.

"I-I-I g-g-g-got l-l-l-locked out." She said in between clattering teeth.

He motioned her to get in and she followed it. "Are you alright?" He asked once inside.

She was still shaking, "Y-y-yeah." Her skin felt like it was burning.

"Let me help you to your room." She shivered and he wrapped his arm around her causing her to flinch. She watched the floor as they walked.

When they reached her door, he opened the door for her but didn't let her go, "You know, today is my last day."

She didn't respond.

He continued, "I don't know why I'm telling you this. Guess I'm scared to grow up."

She shook his arm off of her, walked into her room and turned towards him. No longer shivering, she was able to speak clearly, "Want some advice?" She watched the floor and continued with out waiting for his response, "Stay off the drugs, go find a real job, and make some girl happy." She shut the door and leaned her head against it. The boy behind the door never knocked nor spoke a word. She closed her eyes and could swear that he stayed behind the door for a couple of minutes before walking off.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter eighteennnnnnnn

Chapter Eighteennnnnnnn

Charlee plopped down on her bed with a sigh. She slept until noon with no disturbances. When her eyes fluttered open her stomach growled at her fiercely. 'You're just going to have to wait.' She thought to her stomach. She crawled into the shower then blew dried her hair. Her side bangs and rest of her hair waved and frizzed out and wouldn't agree with straightening. She was just about ready to throw the brush into the mirror when she decided to stick it into a pony-tail. _'Much better.' _She smiled at her appearance in the mirror and walked out the door.

She bit the edge of her lip as she looked at her choices of food. It didn't aware to her that she slept in for such a long time. She picked up a plate with pizza on it and scoped out the cafeteria. She sighed out in relief when she saw Annabell sitting at a table with Lilly, Katy, and Tory. She plopped down her tray and the four girls smiled at her.

"Sooo, how did it go?" Tory said folding her hands underneath her chin.

Charlee blushed a little, "Alright I guess."

"Just alright?!" Katy groaned, "Details girl, details."

Annabell laughed a little, "Now now, it's not nice to force us to make her talk."

"Why thank you, Annabell." Charlee stated with a smile, "After Lilly and Katy dragged Mello away we just walked around, really."

"So cute." Lilly said with a sudden interest in the conversation.

"I heard from Noah that he saw you leaving Matt's room the next morning." Tory said, "Is that true?"

"Well, actually. Yes, it is." The girls gasped a little with a smile it was humorous to see them to do it all at once, "No, we didn't do anything like that. We were having a rematch in a video game and I fell asleep." She felt her face heat up as she blushed, and looked down at her pizza.

Annabell wrapped her arms around Charlee, giving her a giant tight hug. "You're so cute, Charlee." She said with a smile.

Charlee smiled back, "Thank you."

The girls continued to talk amongst the four about the things teenage girls usually talk about; boys, make-up, boys, actors, boys, movies, clothes, and more boys. They were in mid-topic about a classic movie they all liked called, "The Labyrinth" when Charlee was yanked out of her chair by her wrist.

There were five girls; each wore a band around their arm as if to show they were part of some cult. The one who yanked her from her seat was the prettiest with long black hair and brown eyes lined by black bangs. She spoke to Charlee in a fierce voice, "Just who do you think you are?!"

"Last I checked, my name was Charlee Ferrow." Charlee said instantly regretting it. _'Way to go, make them even angrier.'_

The girl dug her red nails into Charlee's wrist making Charlee cringe in pain. Nobody in the cafeteria moved, everyone was quiet with shock. "First Matt, then Samson, then Mello then Samson again," She whispered then she shouted out, "What kind of whore house are you?!"

'_Punch her. C'mon Charlee, just hit her.' _She thought to herself, but she couldn't. She was the victim in this situation; one punch would leave her to be fresh meat to the other four girls.

The leader girl grinned from ear to ear at the girl she had trapped in her grip. "Anyone have a razor?" Said the leader.

Charlee's face grew to a slight variation of shock, _'Does she plan to cut me or something?!'_

"I have some dull scissors." Said one of the other members, she was chunkier then the leader and wore the same stupid grin.

The leader sighed, "Fine, that'll work." She took the scissors and wrapped Charlee's arm behind her back. "Hold still." She commanded.

The leader made one snip and hair from Charlee's ponytail scattered the floor and her shoulders. Satisfied, the leader pushed Charlee back to the table and walked off.

The cafeteria rose with noise as soon as the door banged behind the group as they left. "Charlee, are you alright?!" Annabell asked as Charlee sat back down.

"I can fix it for you," Stated Katy, "I'm fairly talented with hair."

Charlee just sat there, eyes wide, breathing heavy. She jumped when Katy touched her shoulder.

"I can fix it right now; make it look better then those girls' hair." Katy whispered.

"Yeah, show them it didn't affect you." Tory added on.

Charlee smiled, "Thanks, I would like that."

Throughout the rest of lunch, Katy worked her magic with Charlee's hair right there in the cafeteria. Charlee's hair was now an inch or so from her shoulders, completed with a forehead of stylish bangs.

When Katy was finished she smiled big, "You look great!" She handed her the mirror she had laying on the table.

"Wow." Charlee's appearance surprised herself. "I look two years older."

"I'm glad you like it." Katy said with a smile.

"Where did you learn to cut hair from?" Charlee asked.

"Myself, I've always wanted to be a hair stylist, so I started to play with people's hair, and over time, I got better."

"If I had money, I'd pay you." Charlee said handing the mirror back.

"Psh, to just see the looks on those girls's face will be payment enough." She laughed. "That'll be priceless."

The bell rang for everyone leave the cafeteria so they could prepare dinner. The door way was crammed with people and Charlee was forced to walk a slow pace while kids tried their best to get through. She looked up at the door and saw two boys leaning against the wall next to it. Mello had a look of un-amusement while Matt was playing his DS.

Charlee's heart skipped a beat and she turned around leaving Annabell talking to herself. She dashed over to a different door and quickly ran out. The room was quite warmer and smelled of beautiful dancing flowers. "Wow, it's so pretty." She said as she walked over to a counter rainbowed by the several flowers.

"It really is, isn't it?" Charlee jumped her heart practically flying through her chest.

"Oh, Matt, you scared me." Charlee said with a smile and her hand over her fiercely beating heart.

He walked over to her and stood over her, placing his DS on the counter. He gently picked up a strand of hair, "Your hair, it's different."

She looked down, "Y-you saw what happened?"

He paused a little before responding, "Yes. I saw the whole thing." He paused and added, "Are you alright?" He kneeled down to look her in the eyes.

'_Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.'_ She told herself as her eyes began to water.

He lightly lifted her chin with his finger, she blinked and a light blush sprawled itself across her cheeks. He pulled her in close to a warm embrace. "Don't worry me like that again."

She wrapped her arms around him as well, her heart fluttered like a butterfly and she closed her eyes as a few tears escaped from them.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteennnnnnn

A/N: Wow, thank you guys so much for all of the reviews and all the favorites. I love you all. Soooo, I haven't updated in two weekends. Why, you may ask. Well, the weekend before this I was just stressed and unmotivated. Last weekend I went on a State's Conference trip for my Burton (It's a Technology Center my high school offers) all weekend. It was fun and you are jealous. Haha. Damnit all to fucking hell! My laptop had it's desktop wiped. See, I use a school laptop, meaning that they can just go, "Mwaha! Wipe!" Though, it was more or less an internal issue with my laptop. Anyway, I've been stressed and pulled apart and stuck back together then dropped on the floor. So, I'm not really going apologize. It's fucking life and whatever happens, happens. Does anyone even read these things? Hahaha.

Chapter Nineteennnnnnn

"Please stay on topic, Dawn." Said an old man in his mid-forties. He had a name tag on his shirt that read Mr. Paisley. He had his eye glasses off and was rubbing his eyes in frustration. Charlee was frustrated as well; Dawn was making herself the victim to explain her harsh actions. Plus, she was rudely forced to come to the counselor when she was walking in the hallway with Matt.

Dawn nodded, bangs hanging in front of her wet eyes. Mr. Paisley continued to speak, "I see that you and Charlee have your," he paused as if looking for a certain word, "differences, but you really should've tried to talk it out instead of going straight to the physical damage."

He slipped his glasses back on; they made his childish face slimmer. His blue eyes looked at Charlee then to Dawn. "From now on, I want the two of you to talk things out first." He paused to make emphasis, "I don't want to see the two of you in my office again, agreed?"

They both nodded in agreement and left the room. The sun was behind the trees. Dawn took her time telling every sob story she had stored in her little brain.

"Are those stories you said true?" Charlee asked once they were down the hallway a little.

"Of course not." She rolled her eyes as if the answer was obvious, "It was a plot to get us fully off the hook."

"Plan?" Charlee asked

"Yeah, you tell some fake sob stories, start crying, and bam, no consequences."

For some reason, that didn't seem right in Charlee's brain, "And they believe _every_ story?"

"Majority of them, as long as they're logical and well thought out." She paused, "You may not have noticed, but there are some pretty fucked up kids here."

Charlee only nodded and bit her lip.

Dawn tucked a piece of black hair and tucked it behind her ear. "Anyway, don't think that just because I'm telling you all this that I don't hate you."

"I'll keep that in mind." Charlee stated. She turned away from Dawn in the first instant she could and tried to find her room by taking the back route. Instead of finding her room, she found Matt, sitting on a staircase, pounding away, on a sleek laptop with the bright screen reflecting off of his goggles.

Charlee sat down on the step next to him. He stared at his laptop. Charlee looked at the side of his face. He stared at his laptop. She looked at his screen; pop-ups of text and numbers violently appeared and disappeared with each press of his keyboard. That grabbed his attention. It became obvious he was the type who hated being watched over the shoulder. The pop-ups stopped flashing and he turned to her.

Charlee kept her face to the laptop examining the paused screen. "What are you doing?" She asked.

He smiled widely, "If you were to guess, what you would say?"

She thought for a moment before she responded. "Hacking?"

He nodded happily.

"What are you hacking into?"

"Just this crappy computer game I bought a few days ago." He laughed a little at Charlee's amazement. "I usually hack into simpler things, like poorly done home pages, for example. I'd go in and sometimes just hang around or give them a nice, new layout."

She turned head to face him and asked, "Will you teach me?"

"I don't know…"

"Why not?"

"Because it can be dangerous."

"So?"

"It's easy to get caught."

"Teach me not to get caught." She composed her face to be as hard and expressionless as a stone. Charlee kept her eyes fixed on his and waited. It wasn't long until Matt cracked and sighed.

"Fine, I'll teach you. Better me then some stranger on the internet."

She let out a giant triumphant smile. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." He shook his head, "You're quite the persuasive one."

"Just a small talent I picked up." She then added, "So when's my first lesson?"

"Right now." He said as he shifted the screen slightly towards her.

Weeks passed as if it was possible to throw time out the window. Charlee spent more and more of her time with Matt and Mello, due to personal preference and her daily lessons. Charlee managed to get herself her own laptop, with the help of Matt and Mello of course. She had many close calls to kissing Matt, but when it seemed like a perfect moment, Mello would magically pop in as if it was one of his senses to detect them. It was a growing charade; nothing was official between her and Matt. It was starting to drive her mad. Charlee decided to confront the issue with Matt himself. It was her last lesson in hacking when she finally found the courage to ask him.

The room was quiet except for their fingers on the keys. She removed her hands from the keyboard and bit her lip with her head down.

Matt shifted his attention to her and asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah." She said as she searched for the words.

He waited a few seconds and shifted his position. The two of them were sitting in Matt and Mello's room on the floor next to each other with their backs against the frame of the bed. He spoke to fill the silence, "Well, what is it?"

She let out a sigh and just spat the words out, "What do you consider me?" She couldn't look him in the eyes; her face felt hot.

"What do you mean?" Matt asked back, his voice filled with uncertainty and uneasy.

"Well, you know, I mean." She furrowed her eyebrows and tried again, "We've been hanging out a lot more and we keep almost kissing and I just, I don't know." She felt disappointed in her words. She looked up at him, chewing lightly at her lip.

His eyes were wide and looking at the ground. There was a long moment of silence. Charlee waited patiently. "I-I-I just remembered something, I'll be back in a bit." He said robotically and closed his laptop and practically ran for the door.

If her heart was the real organ that could feel love, it would've exploded right on the spot. She stared after the closed door that he ran out of completely lost and confused.

Someone in the other direction let out a 'tsk' sound. Charlee turned around and saw Mello leaning against the wall. Her face flushed and she closed her laptop as he spoke.

"Why are you wasting your time with him?" He asked

"Why not?" She said back, she still felt awkward around Mello, an awkward feeling that would probably never go away.

"Because, he doesn't deserve you." He broke eye contact with her.

"Really? Is it because he's a bad kid, or is it because you don't want to see your best friend happy?" She felt her face wash over with warmth and her insides grew angry.

He waked over to her and moved his face close to hers and held it in his hands gently, "Because," there was a pause then the spitting out of the words, "I like you."

Charlee wanted to move face away, but she couldn't. Charlee wanted to get up and storm off, but she couldn't. Charlee wanted to slap him for saying something like that, but she couldn't. She couldn't and her body wouldn't.

Mello leaned his face in closed his eyes and the door slammed open and he quickly backed far away.

Near was standing in the doorway, he let out a sigh and just said, "Something has happened, we're needed in Roger's office."

Mello's eyebrows furrowed and he threw a pillow at the color deficient boy, "Next time knock god damnit!"

Near just deflected the pillow with his arm and when it plopped on the floor, he walked off.

"Arrrghhh." Was all Mello managed to say as he left the room, leaving Charlee by herself.

Charlee sat in the room by herself for a long time until the room started to make her feel uneasy. She left their room for her own, thinking to herself as she walked in the hallway, _'I'm going into circles with these boys.' _She shoved her hands into her jean pockets. _'Damnit.'_

She was walking down the main hall when she noticed Matt sitting outside the big door everyone affiliated with as Roger's office. She walked over to him and stood next to him. She felt the waves of awkward splash between them but swam out to him anyway, "What's going on?" she asked.

"I tried to listen in but I only heard mumbles, but I think Roger said something about L." He said back as he looked up to her smiling.

She sat down next to him, "How long have they been in there?"

He shrugged, "I don't know."

She nodded then added, "Mind if I wait with you?"

"Not at all." He replied.

They sat in silence together sitting as still as the silence. They were missing a class for waiting, but they didn't care. Yelling flood through the door and the walls, which made both Charlee and Matt nearly jump out of their skin. Matt jumped to his feet as Mello stormed out of the door, slamming it behind him.

"What happened?" Matt asked as the steaming angry Mello was mumbling to himself. Charlee stood to her feet and walked over to the two quietly.

"Stupid, idiotic…" Mello continued, he completely ignored Matt's question and was starting to walk off.

Charlee grabbed him by the arm, "What's going on?" She asked more firmly then Matt did.

Mello's eyebrows were furrowed, but he let out a sigh. "L is dead."

Matt's and Charlee's eyes widened.

"Yeah, so we're leaving this place. C'mon." Mello said and he started to walk off.

"We?! We who?!" Matt questioned loudly causing Mello to stop.

"You and me." Mello said

"But what about Charlee?" Matt asked.

Mello turned his face to hers, "Fine, she can come too." He paused then added, "As long as she doesn't cause too much trouble."

The three of them quickly packed their things and when the hallways were dead silent, they all stepped out of the giant building to never return again.


End file.
